Honestly.
No mystery. No middleman. No hidden agenda.
Just an open API standard for tours, activities and attractions that makes everything connect and work as it should. So you can get on with doing good business. And more of it.
Every connection between a booking system, reseller, or channel manager is a custom project. Different API, different data model, different quirks.
The result is an integration tax: duplicated work that slows everyone down and drives up cost. OCTO eliminates it with a single, shared standard.
Building a new integration from scratch takes months. Multiply that across dozens of partners and the backlog never ends.
Custom APIs mean custom engineering. Every partner relationship carries a development cost that compounds over time.
APIs drift. Partners change versions. Without a shared standard, you are constantly patching connections just to keep things running.
OCTO replaces one-off integrations with a shared industry standard. The model is simple.
OCTO defines a single API standard for booking, availability, and fulfilment across tours, activities, and attractions. No proprietary lock-in. No guesswork.
Reservation systems, OTAs, channel managers, and operators all build to the same spec. Implement once and connect to every compliant partner.
OCTO members propose changes, review drafts, and vote on new versions. The standard evolves because the people who use it are the people who shape it.
OCTO is a non-profit. No single company behind it. The standard is governed by the people who use it.
Three bodies keep it that way. The Board sets direction. The Spec Committee manages the technical spec. The Membership Advisory Board ensures member voices are heard. Transparent, practical, community-owned.
Learn about governanceStrategic direction and accountability
Technical spec development and review
Member feedback and priorities
Community-owned, no single-vendor control
Anyone can read the OCTO specification and implement it. No paywall, no gate, no approval process. Open by design.
If you're a developer, start building today. The spec covers availability, booking, fulfilment, and more. Published on GitHub, maintained in the open.
Membership isn't required to use the spec. But it adds real value: implementation support, community access, shared tooling, validation resources, and a voice in what ships next.
Free to read, free to implement. No strings attached.
Adds support, community, tooling, and governance voice. Starting at $199/year.