Booking & hospitality terms
Booking and hospitality technology connects reservations, room availability, pricing, distribution channels, payments, guest information, and property operations.
Terms
Availability, Rates & Inventory (ARI)
Availability, Rates & Inventory describes the core information hospitality systems exchange to determine what accommodation can be sold, when it is available, and at what price.
Average Daily Rate (ADR)
Average Daily Rate is the average room revenue earned for each occupied room during a specified period.
Booking & Hospitality Technology
Booking and hospitality technology includes the systems used to manage reservations, availability, rates, distribution channels, direct bookings, guest information, and property operations.
Booking Engine
A booking engine is the customer-facing system that lets guests search live availability and complete a reservation directly with a hospitality property.
Booking Window
Booking window is the amount of time between when a reservation is made and the guest's arrival date.
Central Reservation System (CRS)
A central reservation system is software used to centrally manage reservations, availability, rates, and distribution across multiple properties or reservation channels.
Channel Manager
A channel manager distributes availability, rates, inventory, and reservation information between a hospitality property and multiple booking channels.
Direct Booking
A direct booking is a reservation completed directly with the hospitality provider rather than through an external booking intermediary.
Global Distribution System (GDS)
A global distribution system is a travel-industry network used to distribute hotel and other travel inventory to travel agencies and booking intermediaries.
Hotel Metasearch
Hotel metasearch is a travel-discovery channel that compares accommodation prices and booking options from multiple providers and directs travellers toward a booking source.
Occupancy
Occupancy is the percentage of a property's available room inventory that was sold during a specified period.
Online Travel Agency (OTA)
An online travel agency is a digital travel marketplace where customers can search, compare, and reserve accommodation from multiple providers.
Overbooking
Overbooking occurs when more reservations are accepted for a period than the hospitality property has actual accommodation capacity available.
Property Management System (PMS)
A property management system is software used to manage reservations, guest stays, room status, availability, and other day-to-day hospitality property operations.
Rate Parity
Rate parity describes consistency between comparable accommodation rates and booking conditions across different sales channels.
Rate Plan
A rate plan defines the price, restrictions, policies, and other commercial conditions under which accommodation is offered.
Revenue Management System (RMS)
A revenue management system analyzes demand, reservations, inventory, and other signals to support or automate hospitality pricing and availability decisions.
Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR)
Revenue per Available Room measures room revenue relative to all available rooms and can be calculated as room revenue divided by available rooms or ADR multiplied by occupancy.
Room Inventory
Room inventory is the accommodation capacity a hospitality property has available to sell for particular dates.