Internet booking engine (IBE)

An Internet booking engine (IBE) is a module that acts as an intermediary between travelers and providers such as airlines, hotels, and car rental companies. 

It connects with customer interfaces (e.g., a travel provider’s website, mobile app, or chatbot) via an API and enables users to search and book travel products such as flights, hotel rooms, holiday packages, and more. 

Key functionalities of an IBE include 

• travel content mapping and filtering, 
• supporting multiple languages, 
• booking personalization,
• integration with payment gateways, 
• reporting, and
• recording customer data for future marketing purposes.

An IBE retrieves search results from the supplier’s inventory and can apply custom business rules to modify these results (e.g., bundling services into single offers).