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E-commerce

Bookster

MarketingOfficial website

Bookster is a UK vacation rental and property management platform that offers a booking engine, channel manager and guest management tools with embedded JavaScript widgets and first party cookies.

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Overview

What does Bookster do?

What is Bookster

Bookster is a UK based property management system designed for vacation rental owners and managers. It provides a hosted booking engine that can be embedded as an iframe or as a JavaScript widget on the property website, a channel manager that synchronises with major OTAs (Booking.com, Airbnb, Vrbo), and tools for guest communication, invoicing, and reporting.

Cookies and guest data

The Bookster widget sets first party cookies including bookster_session (browser session) and bookster_book (thirty days, used for cart recovery). The PMS itself stores guest personal data: name, email, address, payment details (tokenised), booking history, and special requests. Some of this data is shared with the OTAs through the channel manager.

Legal basis under the GDPR

Booking related processing relies on contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b)) and legal obligation for tax records (Art. 6(1)(c)). Analytics and marketing cookies in the widget require consent under Art. 5(3) ePrivacy and Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR. Marketing emails and SMS need separate consent or the soft opt in for similar services where applicable.

International data transfers and UK adequacy

The European Commission adopted an adequacy decision for the UK in 2021, renewed in 2025, so transfers from the EU to Bookster (UK) are treated as intra EEA. Some sub processors (payment gateways, transactional email) may be in the US under SCCs.

Practical compliance steps

Sign a Data Processing Agreement with Bookster, configure the widget to gate marketing cookies behind your CMP, retain guest data only as long as needed (tax retention can be up to ten years in some jurisdictions), encrypt or tokenise payment data, and inform guests of the OTA data sharing in your privacy notice.

Alternatives

European vacation rental PMS alternatives include Smoobu (Germany), Lodgify (Spain), Hostaway (multi region with EU), and Avantio (Spain). They offer similar features with clear EU residency options.

Compliance

Bookster and the GDPR

Bookster is classified as “Marketing”. On a site that targets European visitors, it must only load after the visitor consents, and it must be listed in your cookie policy.

Legal basis
Contract for booking processing (GDPR Art. 6(1)(b)); consent for analytics and marketing cookies (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a) and ePrivacy Art. 5(3))
Risk level
medium
Applicable regulations
GDPR, UK GDPR, ePrivacy Directive, UK PECR

Impact assessment (DPIA)

A DPIA is recommended when Bookster handles guest data at scale combined with marketing automation and channel manager integrations spanning multiple OTAs.

Sample text for your banner

We use Bookster to manage bookings and guest communications. With your consent, Bookster may set marketing cookies and use your contact data for personalised offers.
Cookies and trackers

What Bookster sets and contacts

Tracking method
Hosted booking engine with embedded JavaScript widget, first party cookies and guest data management
Server location
United Kingdom (post Brexit adequacy) and EU sub processors

Cookies set (4)

NameTypeDurationPurpose
bookster_sessionfirst_partySessionSession identifier for the booking widget
bookster_bookfirst_party30 daysStores in progress booking for cart recovery
bookster_langfirst_party12 monthsStores the visitor language preference
bookster_utmfirst_party30 daysCaptures UTM parameters for attribution

Third-party domains contacted (3)

  • booksterhq.com
  • app.booksterhq.com
  • book.booksterhq.com
Questions

Frequently asked questions about Bookster

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What cookies does Bookster set?

First party cookies bookster_session (session), bookster_book (thirty days), bookster_lang (twelve months), and bookster_utm (thirty days).

Is consent required for Bookster?

Strictly necessary booking cookies do not need consent. Analytics and marketing cookies require consent.

What is the legal basis?

Contract for booking, legal obligation for tax retention, consent for analytics and marketing cookies, consent for marketing emails.

Does Bookster transfer data outside the EU?

Primarily no. Bookster hosts in the UK, covered by the EU adequacy decision. Some sub processors may be in the US under SCCs.

Do I need a DPIA?

A DPIA is recommended for large rental portfolios using marketing automation and multi OTA integrations.

How do I implement Bookster compliantly?

Sign a DPA, gate non essential cookies, set proper retention, tokenise payments, disclose OTA sharing.

Are there alternatives?

Smoobu (DE), Lodgify (ES), Hostaway (multi region), Avantio (ES).

How do I update my cookie policy for Bookster?

List bookster_ cookies, durations, the booksterhq.com domain, and link to Bookster privacy policy.

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