Printable Version Email this Article

Amadeus – A Global Distribution System (GDS) based in Europe.

Apollo – A Global Distribution System (GDS) originally developed as the internal central reservation system for United Airlines. Apollo is marketed in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Japan.

Booking Engine or Branded Booking Engine – The behind-the-scenes software and systems that provide reservations functionality on an Internet site.

Central Reservation Office (CRO) – The place where multi- unit hotel companies book reservations through an 800 number or a rented phone centre for independent hotels.

Central Reservation System (CRS) – The software that powers the CRO. Could be in- house created or bought off the shelf, rented on a license basis or a per transaction basis.

Confirmed Reservation – An Online Booking transaction in which a room is guaranteed by the guest with a credit card number AND a confirmation number is issued to the guest by the property being booked.

Connectivity – The data communication process linking travellers and lodging properties.

Distribution – Term used to describe the varied systems and Internet sites that display property information and availability and also allows those properties to be booked online.

Galileo – A Global Distribution System marketed worldwide excluding the United States, Canada, Mexico and Japan

Global Distribution System (GDS) – These are computerised reservation networks through which users view data on a wide range of travel services, including air, lodging, and auto rental. The four largest GDSs are: Sabre, Galileo, Worldspan and Amadeus.

Guest Management System (GMS) – The computer system in a hotel, which contains information about available and occupied guestrooms, future reservations and guest charges. (Also known as Property Management Software).

H yper T ext M arkup L anguage (HTML) – The document format used on the World Wide Web. Web pages are built with HTML tags (codes) embedded in the text.

Inventory – The available room nights available to be booked online.

Look to Book Ratio – The relationship between those that visit a hotel web site and those that actually book a room online.

Online Availability – A tool that shows whether a room is available on a particular night and is displayed on a web site. (Typically the property’s own web site).

Passenger Name Record (PNR) – The record in a GDS that holds all the linked information for a traveller's components of a trip. This is a major stumbling block to web-only booking, since it provides a service to travellers that hotels can't match on their own.

Pegasus – “Switch” company. Translates information from reservation representation companies such as InnLink and then disseminates that information to the Global Distribution Systems (GDS) and Alternative Distribution Systems (ADS).

Property Management System (PMS) – The software that manages your hotel’s arrivals, departures, rates and inventory and guest billing.

Qualified Online Travel Company (QOTC) – The generic term used to describe 3 rd party online travel booking companies who receive a commission in return for the booking.

Page views – The number of pages viewed in a specified time frame regardless of the number of visitors.

Property Management System (PMS) – The computer system in a hotel, which contains information about available and occupied guestrooms, future reservations and guest charges. (Also known as Guest Management Software).

Reservation Request – An Online Availability tool that also allows a guest to request a reservation based upon available rooms via email. Some systems allow the guest to enter a credit card number. However, a confirmation number is not automatically issued and the property must contact the guest to confirm the reservation.

Sabre – The largest and oldest Global Distribution System (GDS). Marketed worldwide. Started by Trans World Airlines (TWA) as their travel agent ticketing system.

Switch Company – An organisation, which provides communication connections, data communication and data reformatting, services to link global distribution systems lodging properties participating in Online Reservations. They offer communication to all four GDS allowing hotels the option of not having to communicate with the GDS directly. The two main switch companies are Pegasus and WizCom.

Unique visitors – The number of visitors to a site which is more useful than page views.

Worldspan – A Global Distribution System (GDS).

Printable Version Email this Article