How to start an Online Travel Website and how to manage without IATA registration?

In recent years, the flight booking segment of the travel sector has become increasingly competitive. With the largest tour operators and websites offering customers a wide range of options all in one place, it's difficult for the smaller travel agents to compete.

There are companies who provide solution which allows small- and medium-sized travel agents in India to overcome this challenge. This solution will enable you to sell a vast inventory of flights from a large pool of airlines direct to your customers.

Travel agents don’t necessarily need IATA registration, most on-line tour organisations opt to use the IATA code of an existing tour agency within the area as they often have better negotiated fees. One can also enter into agreement with multiple travel organisations for unique offers.

You may get Travel software and third party API which don’t ask for IATA to share the net sevrices. In market you can get lot of flight consolidators and hotel consolidators who can provide you inventory and API to start OTA.

API stands for Application Programming Interface, and in simple terms is a way for one company to legitimately access the products of another. 

There could be a need to integrate various APIs (depending upon the services which the agent wants to offer) like flights, Hotels, buses, cars, packages, payment gateway, etc. The flight API is integrated through GDS and LCC will have their separate APIs to be integrated. Hotel API can be procured from hotel consolidators and similarly for other service.

The agent can chose from integrating individual APIs or get a white labelling option from another OTA.

Hope you will find it useful.

Source: Various sources