Image distribution is a powerful tool that helps you to market your property more effectively across the Globe, through the use of Rich Media content. In a crowded and commoditised online environment, images can help your property stand out based on value rather than price - thereby driving higher bookings, supporting higher rates and reinforcing brand identity.

We highly encourage you to take advantage of the possibility to upload up to 50MB worth of images of your property to your GDS by SiteMinder account for distribution to all connected GDSs and . GDS by SiteMinder uses Leonardo's Content Manager for image distribution.

Leonardo’s Content Manager allows you to manage and deploy media content across third-party channels in a single easy-to-use interface. It replaces the VScape platform, retaining the same key functionality with added features and workflow improvements. Increase conversion and views on your third-party listings by uploading high-quality, fresh media that reflects your property’s unique selling features.

Use Content Manager to:

Log into your GDS by SiteMinder .

To upload your new photos, videos and virtual tours click the “Add Images” button on the top right:

Drag and drop your media from another window into the Upload Media pop-up, or click “Browse” to search your computer for files. (Keep in mind you can upload all of your images in bulk.)

Review the categories, caption and distribution status:

Captions and categories will auto-fill, but it’s important to review them before completing the upload.

Once you’ve uploaded the media and reviewed the captions, categories and distribution status, click “ Upload ”.

Note: Newly uploaded media is displayed as “Processing” while the optimisation engine runs, please allow it time and then refresh the page.

The sequence or order of your photos can directly impact display on some third-party channels. The first image in your library is your feature image on some third-party channels, and the first image of each room type is that room’s primary image. To set your primary image or re-sequence your content:

Click the “Resequence” button in the top right of the gallery:

Drag and drop your images in the pop-up window. Place your feature image in the first position and the primary image of each room type after that:

Image display on the GDS is in a gallery format only, so this section does not apply for GDS publishing. However, this is still relevant for the which use Leonardo for image distribution.

Before attempting to associate media to room type, you need to firstly make sure that all of your room images have been loaded to Content Manager:

Click Setup > Rooms > Room Type. Click on the room you’d like to associate images to. On the Image Library on the right-hand pane, click Add > Leonardo Content Manager > and select the appropriate room type image:

You can also confirm which images are associated with room codes within Content Manager by selecting the Room Types tab to see a list of your room codes. Then click the ellipse icon to the right of the room code you’re looking to update and select Edit Room Media:

Click on the image you want to edit to pull up the “ Media Drawer ”. The media drawer will slide out from the right hand side of the screen:

From here you can:

If you’ve added any new meta-data make sure you click “ Save Changes ” to confirm your edits.

Please note if you delete an image in Content Manager, you will also need to delete that image from the type section and re-assign if needed.

There are several new views and filters that have been added to Content Manager to make it easier to find exactly what you’re looking for. In the below section we’ll go through the different ways you can view and filter your content.

Views :
Content Manager provides 2 view layouts:

(1) Grid View. This is the default layout when you access Content Manager. This layout provides large thumbnail images with some limited meta-data information:

(2) List View. You can toggle to the list view to view additional meta- data associated with the images. This view allows you to see the image sequence, category and distribution status at a glance:

Filters :

(1) Filter by Media Type
On the left-hand side of the screen you can filter to see the different file types you have loaded. For example, if you wish to view just the videos you have uploaded then click on the drop down arrow and click on 'Videos':

(2) General Filter
These filters allow you to see what content is in active distribution, associated to a room code, duplicates, categories, etc; making it easier than ever to drill down and find the content you need:

The new Content Manager now includes in-app reporting giving you the ability to audit media quality, performance, and reach. To access this report, click on the report dropdown at the top of the screen and Select Media Report:

Once on the Media Report page you’ll see your overall content score at a glance. Your overall Content Score is calculated based on the quantity of:

Media Quality broken down by images, videos, and virtual tours

Media by Category shows the quantity of media tagged into the categories defined as most important to performance on travel channels, according to best practices

Room Type Images shows whether guest room media has been categorised to a room code Number of images with copyright metadata

Media Freshness shows how often your content has been updated. Most channels are looking for updates every 2-5 years. This allows you to keep track of what content may need to be replaced and when.

To see more information, click the icon in the top right of each section to download a CSV file with a breakdown of how this metric was calculated. This allows you to drill deeper into the data with downloadable CSV files that break down how each metric stacks up against industry standards.

Leonardo automatically resizes your photos to meet the specific needs of the channel. We encourage the highest quality image possible to ensure that different image type criteria can be met. Images are resized into up to 13 different sizes which are then sent to the channel. One dimension (width) of the image must be at least 800 pixels and all submitted images must be in .JPG format.

- Minimum of one exterior shot.
​ - One shot of each room type (include bathroom shot ). Minimum of one room type image is required but multiple
images are recommended.
​ - A shot of all public areas (e.g. lobby, reception, restaurant, gym, pool) is recommended.

We recommend for each hotel to upload approximately 25 images, with a maximum of 50MB.

If you strongly feel you need to upload more, please contact your GDS Account Manager for further discussion:

Each portal has its own upload schedule and can take up to 2 weeks for the images to upload however most systems are available within a week.

Your images will be distributed to the following 4 GDSs: