What is OCTO?
OCTO (Open Connectivity for Tours, Activities & Attractions) is an open standard created in 2022 that allows booking software, channel managers, and activity resellers to communicate with one another. We already covered it in detail in our article "What is the OCTO standard in tourism?"The latest news: there are now more than 80 OCTO member companies, including Civitatis, Headout, and Tiqets. In just one year, over a hundred systems have earned the certification, and Explorates is now among them.
What this means for our customers
This certification will make it easier for all of our customers to access compatible distribution platforms: theme parks, museums, guided tour operators, and outdoor activity providers.With OCTO, the product catalog, pricing, and availability are transmitted in real time to resellers.
Several major players in the activities sector, such as Klook, Tiqets, Headout, Civitatis, Groupon, and Booking.com Attractions, support this standard.
It's a huge time-saver: once a commercial agreement is in place (each seller keeps their own terms and conditions), there is no longer any need to develop a full new integration from scratch.
At the same time, we continue to work closely with platforms that use their own APIs, including Viator and GetYourGuide, for which Explorates already has direct connections.
Tomorrow, bookings by AI agents?
The topic is also becoming increasingly relevant with the rise of conversational AI agents.In May 2026, OCTO announced the creation of an advisory committee dedicated to artificial intelligence, with the goal of exploring how AI agents could search for activities and make bookings directly with suppliers.
For this to work at scale, agents will need to access booking systems without having to handle a different API for each supplier.
The OCTO standard will play an important role in this evolution and seems to us a solid foundation for the years ahead.
Want to connect a new sales channel?
Explorates' certification can be found in the official OCTO directory.If you use Explorates and want to distribute your activities on a new platform, get in touch. We can help you set up the connection.
A big thank you as well to the customers who worked with us during the first connection tests.
