// PRACTICE · August 12, 2026
Booking engines: build or buy
When a custom reservation flow is worth it, and when an off-the-shelf widget is the honest answer.
By Topan Adi Pamungkas · Performance Marketing Manager · Gotrade (YC S19)
Hotels ask this constantly. My rule of thumb: buy the engine when your inventory is standard, build when the journey is your edge.
Pantai Resort’s direct bookings grew because the flow matched how their guests actually plan trips — that logic doesn’t come in a widget.
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// ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Topan Adi Pamungkas
PERFORMANCE MARKETING MANAGER · GOTRADE (YC S19)
Performance Marketing Manager at Gotrade (YC S19), running paid acquisition for the Indonesian market as sole contributor. I started in frontend engineering in 2013 and spent three years in technical support before moving into growth, which is why I read a tracking stack as fluently as a media plan. I also build XerAds, an AI-native growth platform. I am as comfortable debugging a tracking pixel as optimising a campaign budget.
- CERTIFIED
- Apple Search Ads Certified
- Full-Stack Digital Marketing Program (RevoU)
- Advanced SEO Programme (RevoU)
- EDUCATION
- BINUS University — Bachelor of Information Systems, Computer Science
- Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB) — Diploma, Computer Engineering
// CONTACT
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