Why WhatsApp matters
European and US travel agents reply to email. African DMCs and Middle East buyers reply to WhatsApp at 4-7× the rate they reply to email. If your ICP includes anyone outside the email-saturated US/UK markets, WhatsApp doubles your booked-call rate.
The catch: WhatsApp Cloud API is the strictest setup in customer-facing software. Meta requires you to register a dedicated phone number, get a permanent access token, and wire up a webhook — all from a console that was designed for enterprise developers, not founders. This walkthrough holds your hand through every click.
Read this first
Before you start
You'll need all of these in front of you before you begin:
- A Facebook account (your personal one is fine — it will become the owner of the Business Manager).
- A business phone number you can dedicate to WhatsApp Cloud API. NOT one currently used in the WhatsApp Business mobile app or consumer WhatsApp app.
- A business email on your own domain (e.g. you@yoursafarico.com).
- 30-45 uninterrupted minutes.
- A password manager or notes file open to temporarily hold the access token.
- Optional: a terminal (Mac Terminal, Windows PowerShell) for generating a random verify token in step 6.
Step-by-step walkthrough
Tick each step as you go. Your progress is saved locally — close the tab and come back when you have a quiet 30 minutes.
A Meta Business Manager (sometimes called Business Suite) is the parent account that holds your Facebook Page, Instagram, and (importantly for us) the WhatsApp Business Account. If you already have one for ads or page management, skip this step.
- Go to business.facebook.com.
- Click Create an account and follow the prompts.
- Business name = your tour operator's legal trading name. Use the real one — Meta verifies this against your business email domain.
Use a business emailSign up withyou@yoursafarico.comnotyou@gmail.com. Meta gives business-email accounts looser rate limits and faster review cycles for the WhatsApp-related approvals coming up.Screenshot reference: business.facebook.com landing — "Create an account" button top-right
The 4 fields you will paste into Karibu
A quick reference for when you're flipping between Meta and Karibu. Karibu's connection form asks for these four values:
| Field | Where it comes from | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Phone number ID | API Setup → From dropdown → ID below | 106540352242922 |
| WABA ID | API Setup → WhatsApp Business Account ID | 102290129340398 |
| Display phone number | API Setup → top of From dropdown | +256712345678 |
| Access token | Business Settings → System Users → Generate token (Never expires) | EAAJ… |