hotel and tourism jargon

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Do you have a glossary of travel, tourism & hospitality terms?

Every industry has its own jargon and lingo. tourism is no different. here's a great list of tourism terms that you should know..

The list has been compiled by the world-class team of strategists, consultants, educators and established tourism experts at the nonprofit Tourism Academy . Our team offers relationship powered professional development, trade marketing, tourism development and consulting solutions. 

Glossary of Tourism Terms

adventure travel:  a type of niche tourism, involving exploration or travel with a certain degree of risk (real or perceived), and which may require special skills and physical exertion 

affinity group : a group of people linked by a common interest or purpose. See also pre- formed group. 

agent : one who acts or has the power to act as the representative of another. A person whose job it is to arrange travel for end clients (individuals, groups, corporations), confirming travel components and simplifying the planning process for customers, providing consultation services and travel packages. 

American Bus Association (ABA) : A trade organization consisting of member bus lines throughout the country. www.buses.org 

American National Standards Institute (ANSI): A private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. www.ansi.org

American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA):  The oldest and largest travel agent organization in the world with travel agents being the primary members. Other companies providing travel industry products and services can be associate members. www.astanet.com 

Application Programming Interface  ( API) : a code that allows two software programs to communicate with each other. 

attrition : Shortfall of sleeping room block pick-up or food-and-beverage projections from numbers agreed to in a contract. Penalties for attrition may be outlined in a contract’s attrition clause. 

Average Daily Rate (ADR) : a statistical unit that represents the average rental income per paid occupied room in a given time period. 

back of house : a business term that refers to parts of a business operation that customers do not see. This may refer to mechanical rooms, accounting offices, kitchens, and those persons who are engaged in those areas. 

block : a group of rooms, tickets, seats or space reserved for a specific customer - usually for a set period of time. Room blocks are commonly reserved for conventions, meetings or groups in general. Room blocks may also be allocated to high volume buyers (wholesale, receptive, tour) who intend to sell them as tour components on an ongoing basis. A room block is usually under a firm agreement and is for a set period of time. 

Brand USA : A public/private partnership to promote inbound tourism to the United States and communicate US entry/exit policies. Also known as the Corporation for Travel Promotion. www.thebrandusa.com 

bulk pricing : the practice of offering exceptionally low, typically non-commissionable rates to high volume buyers who purchase a specified number of units to resell at a mark up. 

campaign : A specific, defined series of activities used in marketing a new or changed product or service, or in using new marketing channels and methods. 

Certified Tour Professional (CTP) : A designation administered by the National Tour Foundation and conferred upon tour professionals who complete prescribed evaluation requirements. 

certificate:  an official document attesting to a fact such as a level of achievement in a course of study or training.

certification: the action or process of providing someone or something with an official document attesting to a status or level of achievement. See also: American National Standards Institute

certified: officially recognized as possessing certain qualifications or meeting certain standards. 

Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) : A designation conferred upon travel professionals who have completed a travel management program offered by the Institute of Certified Travel Agents. 

Certified Meeting Planner (CMP) : A designation conferred upon convention and meeting management professionals who have completed an application and written exam offered by the Events Industry Council. 

channel manager : a system or platform that coordinates the distribution of product details, inventory and pricing in real time across multiple sales “channels” 

charter : to hire for exclusive use any aircraft, motorcoach, cruise ship or other vehicle 

class of service : a parameter used to differentiate the types of accommodation offered by travel suppliers, often denoted by fare code on air tickets. Classes may reflect differences in space, comfort, amenities and cabin service. Ex: First Class, Business Class, Coach Class or please hold this chicken until we land. 

commercial rate : A special rate given by a hotel or rental car, motor coach, bus or passenger transport company to an organization based on either the volume of business done or the type of accommodation or rental car. Also referred to as a corporate rate. 

commission : The varying amount paid by suppliers to travel agents for the sale of travel products and services. 

commissioned tours : A tour available for sale through retail and wholesale travel agencies, which provides for a payment of an agreed upon sales commission either to the retail or wholesale seller.

complementary : goods or services that add to the value of another good or service. Ex: peanut butter complements jelly

complimentary (comp) : Service, space or item given at no charge.

complimentary (comp) ratio : The number of rooms, tickets, meals or service items provided at no cost based on the number of occupied rooms.

• The industry standard is one complimentary room per 20-50 rooms occupied per day. 
• The industry standard for ticketed attractions and restaurants is one complimentary admission/meal per 10-20 paid. 

complimentary registration : Waiver of registration fees. 

concierge : a hotel employee whose job is to assist guests by arranging tours, local transportation, making reservations for theater or restaurants, etc. 

Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) : A nonprofit organization supported by bed taxes, government budget allocations, private memberships or a combination of these. A CVB promotes tourism, encourages groups to hold meetings and trade shows in its city, and assists groups before and during meetings. 

consolidator : a person or company which forms groups to travel using group rates on to increase sales, earn override commissions or reduce the possibility of tour cancellations. 

consortium : a loosely knit group of independently owned and managed companies such as travel agencies, tour operators, hotels, or other suppliers, with a joint marketing distribution process 

convention and visitors bureau (CVB) : a nonprofit local organizations charged with representing (and promoting) a specific destination. CVBs are funded by transient room taxes, government budget allocations, private membership dues, sponsorship sales and program participation fees, or a combination of these mechanisms.  See also: destination marketing organization 

co-op marketing: outreach activities that help multiple suppliers reach the target audience by sharing costs, resources and tactics. 

course: a series of lessons or modules to teach the skills and knowledge for a particular job or activity. 

destination : a place where travelers might visit. This may be any neighborhood, city, region or country that can be marketing as a single entity for tourists. 

destination management company (DMC) : Company or professional individual engaged in organizing tours, meetings of all types and their related activities. Also referred to as a ground operator. 

destination marketing organization (DMO) : A nonprofit marketing organization for a city, state, province, region or area whose primary purpose is the promotion of the destination.  See also: convention & visitors bureau 

direct spend : the value of goods and services purchased by tourists (e.g., attraction ticket, hotel room rate and meals) 

double double : refers to a room containing two separate double beds, capable of sleeping up to four guests comfortably, sometimes referred to as a “quad” 

double occupancy rate : the price per person for a room that will be shared between two people 

dynamic pricing : the practice of varying the price for a product or service to reflect changing market conditions, in particular the charging of a higher price during times of greater demand. This is the opposite of static pricing. 

educational travel : a type of niche tourism, built around learning objectives, often to the benefit of students and/or those who share a common interest, hobby or profession 

emerging market : A group of customers who do not provide as much business as the target markets, but show interest in the destination. 

escort : a person employed or contracted by a seller of packaged travel product who accompanies tour participants from point to point often acting as a the tour operator liaison and onsite problem solver. 

escorted tour : a packaged, pre-planned itinerary that includes the services of a tour manager or tour escort who accompanies participants for the full duration of the tour 

escrow : a legal concept and financial instrument whereby assets are held by a third party on behalf of two other parties that are in the process of completing a transaction. In many places, agents and tour operators are required by law to maintain customer deposits and pre-payments in escrow until the time of service. 

excursion : a trip made for leisure, education or physical purposes. It is often an adjunct to a longer journey, cruise or visit to a place. 

familiarization tour (FAM) : A program designed to acquaint participants with specific destinations or services. Offered in groups and on an individual basis. 

folio : an itemized record of guest charges and credits, often referred to as a guest bill or statement. 

frequent independent travel (FIT) : A custom-designed, pre-paid travel package with many individualized arrangements. An FIT operator specializes in preparing FITs documents at the request of retail travel agents. FITs usually receive travel vouchers to present to onsite services as verification or pre-payment. Also known as foreign individual/independent travel or frequent individual travel. 

front office : a business term that refers to a company’s departments that come in direct contact with customers. 

gateway : a city, airport, port or area where visitors arrive. International gateway refers to places where foreign visitors may first enter a country. 

ground operator : a company or individual providing local accommodations, transfers, ticketing and related services.  See also: receptive operator 

group booking : Reservation for a block of rooms for a single group. 

group tour : A prearranged, prepaid travel program for a group usually including transportation, accommodations, attraction admissions and meals. Also referred to as a package tour. 

guaranteed departure : a tour that will definitely operate on the day it is scheduled and will not be cancelled. 

Horizontal Market : audiences for products or services that are not easily distinguished by consumer characteristics. Examples of horizontal markets include those for computer security, legal or accounting services. 

Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI):  A trade association for hotel sales, marketing and revenue management professionals. 

hotel classifications : Classification of a hotel by its amenities, facilities, service and cost. Qualifications and terms may vary by country. 

• limited service or economy  is generally a reasonably priced, generally providing a bed, telephone, TV, shower and free parking. They often do not have room service or a restaurant. 
• full service  may refer to a property of any price category that offers some meeting space and features a restaurant onsite 
• moderate  medium-priced property with services and amenities such as a restaurant and possibly conference rooms. 
• upper moderate  is a property that offers special services such as a first-rate restaurant, banquet and conference rooms, valet service, room service, cable TV, and a host of other amenities. 
• luxury or deluxe  is a top-grade hotel or resort offering the highest service and the maximum variety of amenities. All rooms have a private bath, and all the usual public rooms and services are provided. 
• boutique  is loosely used to describe properties that have typically between 10 and 100 rooms and often contain luxury facilities in unique or intimate settings with full service accommodations. 

hub and spoke : a style of tour that has guests staying in a single location with excursions to nearby destinations 

incentive tour : travel experience offered to stimulate employee productivity or as a reward for sales agents 

incidentals : items not included in the package price 

inclusive : referring to a package or product price that includes all of the varying components, taxes and gratuities for a flat rate. An inclusive tour may include transportation, lodging, transfers, etc. for a set price. An inclusive meal might include food, drink, tax and gratuity. 

independent tour : a style of travel packaging that allows visitors to move about without the accompaniment of a tour manager or escort 

indirect spend : the value of all goods and services used to produce tourism output. (e.g., toiletries for hotel guests, ingredients for meals and plastic used in souvenirs) 

International Inbound Travel Association (IITA) : A trade association of inbound receptive tour operators and suppliers from the US. Formerly RSAA Receptive Services Association of America. 

incentive travel : A travel reward given by companies to employees to stimulate productivity. Also known as an incentive trip. 

inclusive tour : A specific package in which all components of the package are part of the price. Generally, an inclusive package includes transportation, lodging, meals, gratuities and taxes, and some form of sightseeing or rental car. The terms and conditions of a tour contract should specify exactly what is covered. Also referred to as an all-expense tour and an all-inclusive tour. 

inclusive rate : The rate charged to an operator that includes all service, tax, gratuities and additional fees. 

IPW : A computerized scheduled appointment show for international tour operators always held in the United States and sponsored by U.S. Travel Association. Formerly known as Pow Wow. 

itinerary : a schedule of travel components put together by an agent or operator. 

leg : a portion of a journey between two scheduled stops.

lesson: an amount of teaching given at one time; a period of learning or teaching.  

market segment : a group of consumers or buyer types that share one or more common characteristics, lumped together for sales or marketing purposes. 

markup : the difference between the cost of a good or service and its selling price. 

meet and greet : Pre-purchased service for meeting and greeting a client upon arrival in a city, usually at the airport, and assisting the client with entrance formalities, baggage and transportation. 

microlearning : a tool for training, teaching and development that delivers content in small, very specific bursts. 

module: each of a set of standardized parts or independent units that can be used to construct a more complex structure such as an item of furniture or a building. multiple lessons may be combined to create a module.  

motor coach : A large, comfortable, well-powered bus that can transport groups and their luggage over long distances. Motor coaches are normally able to accommodate 46 to 54 passengers. 

motor coach tour operator : A company that creates tours in which group members are transported via motor coach to their destination, itinerary activities and back. 

mystery tour : a short journey, usually in a bus, that people make for pleasure without knowing where they are going. 

NAJ : Producers of the RTO (receptive tour operator) summit and similar small trade show formats with a regional focus. Also referred to as North American Journeys 

net rate : A wholesale rate for groups (usually 10-15 people) which an operator may add a mark up. 

NTA (formerly National Tour Association) : A trade association of North American motor coach tour operators. www.ntaonline.com 

occupancy : the percentage of available rooms in use during a given period. 

online travel agent (OTA) : a travel website that specialized in the sale of travel products to consumers 

outbound operator (or outbound tour) : A company or tour that takes groups from a given city or country to another city or country. 

Ontario Motor Coach Association (OMCA) : A trade association of motorcoach operators based in and around Ontario province. 

package : Travel arrangements with two or more components offered for one price, inclusive of all taxes. Also refers to a single-fee booth package offered by show management. 

packager : An individual or organization that coordinates and promotes the development of a package tour and establishes operating procedures and guidelines for that tour. 

performance tour operator : A tour operator company that focuses on planning trips for groups that must perform while traveling like school bands, choral groups, etc. 

plus plus : a term used to describe a product price that does not include taxes, gratuities and/or service charges. Ex: The meal is $15 plus tax and gratuity OR $15++. 

pre- and post-trip tours : Optional extension or side trip package offered before or after a meeting, gathering or convention. 

pre-formed group : a group that contacts the tour operator to plan travel exclusively for the group members. 

rack rate : the normal rate of a product or service, before any discounts, commissions or net price arrangements 

receptive operator : A tour operator who provides local services, transfers, sightseeing, guides, etc. Many large receptive operators develop packages and sell them through wholesale tour operators in foreign countries. Also referred to as a ground operator, an inbound tour operator, a land operator, an RTO and a receiving agent. 

retail tour : A tour put together by a tour operator and sold to individuals.

request for proposal (RFP) : A document that stipulates what services the organization wants from an outside contractor and requests a bid to perform such services.

retailer : one who sells directly to the consumer.  See also: travel agent 

return on investment (ROI) : Net profit divided by net worth. A financial ratio indicating the degree of profitability. 

revenue per available room (RevPAR) : A measure used by hotels that divides revenue for a given time period by the number of available rooms for the same time period. 

sales mission : Intense selling effort in a particular locality; calling upon qualify leads. Usually performed by a group of people who may or may not all be in a sales capacity but have an interest in meeting with the same buyers. 

Seasons  (from a buyer/operator perspective): 

• looking The time of year when tour operators are looking at for new activities & vendors to include in future trips. Also known as product or catalog development season. 
• selling The time of year when tour operators are focused on reaching out to their customers, promoting future trips and selling packaged travel programs. 
• booking The time of year when tour operators are booking and confirming tour components they plan to utilize. 
• travel The time of year when the majority of the tour operators’ customers are traveling. 

Seasons  (from a supplier perspective): 

• off-season The time of year when tourist traffic, and often rates, are at their lowest because of decreased demand. Also referred to as low season, off-peak or value season. 
• peak season The time of year when demand and price is at a premium. Also known as high season. 
• shoulder season The season between peak season and off-season when demand is average and the travel product will not produce the highest price but does not need a deep discount to generate traffic.

series : describing a piece of business or scheduled itinerary that takes place on a regular frequency 

site inspection : Personal, careful survey of property, facility or area.

Skål  is a professional, fraternal organization of tourism leaders around the world, promoting global tourism and friendship. 

SMERF : Meetings acronym for a category of meeting market segments including social, military, educational, religious and fraternal type groups. These organizations often are looking for value when selecting a meeting destination. 

supplier : The actual provider of a travel product such as the hotel, attraction, restaurant, airline or car rental agency; not the travel agent or tour operator selling the product. 

STAR (STR) Report : a tool used to measure hotel performance against competitive aggregates and within local markets. Data is collected and distributed by strglobal 

static pricing : the practice of maintaining the same price for a product or service at all times regardless of changing market conditions, trends and demand. This is the opposite of dynamic pricing. 

Student Youth Travel Association (SYTA) : a trade association representing tour operator companies that specialize in student travel. www.syta.com 

tariff : a schedule of rates for a good or services provided by a supplier 

tiered pricing : A pricing structure that offers a variety of price points for different customer types. For more or suggested rates by buyer type. 

tour operator : A person or company that negotiates discount rates, packages travel products, prints brochures, and markets these travel products through travel agents or to the general public. 

tour vouchers : Documents issued by tour operators to be exchanged for accommodations, meals, sightseeing, admission tickets and other services. Also referred to as coupons and tour orders. 

tourism : travel for business or pleasure; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. Tourism may be international, or within the traveler’s country. 

tourism ambassador: an individual possessing the knowledge, skill and training to represent a destination, assist tourists and create better visitor experiences. 

Tourism Cares : A charitable organization that focuses on helping preserve the travel experience for future travelers. www.tourismcares.org 

trade association : Group of persons employed in a particular trade.

trade publication : A magazine or newsletter that targets a specific industry. 

trade show : Exhibit of products and services that is targeted to a specific clientele and not open to the public. 

travel agent (or travel agency) : Person or firm qualified to advise and arrange for travel needs such as hotel rooms, meals, transportation, tours and other travel elements. Represents all travel suppliers worldwide. Also referred to as a retailer. 

Travel Alliance Partners (TAP) : A member-owned organization of tour operators that work together to develop unique itineraries within their respective regions, cross-promote products offered by other members and leverage their collective buying power. www.tapintotravel.com 

travel receipt : purchase of travel and tourism related goods and services by visitors. These goods and services include food, lodging, recreation, gifts, entertainment, local transportation and other items incidental to travel. 

United Motor Coach Association (UMA) : North America's largest association for operators of motorcoach companies providing charter, tour and regular route services. www.uma.org 

United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) : A nationwide organization of tour operators offering protection for travelers purchasing member travel products by way of a multi-million-dollar bond. www.ustoa.com 

Upsell : sales technique where a seller induces the customer to purchase more expensive items, upgrades or other add-ons in an attempt to make a more profitable sale 

U.S. Travel Association : The national, nonprofit association representing all components of the U.S. travel industry. (formerly known as TIA - Travel Industry Association of America) www.ustravel.org 

Vertical Market : used to identify areas where vendors offer goods & services specific to a group of customers with specialized needs. Examples may include customers identified by their areas of origin, age range(s) or interest types. 

Visa : a conditional authorization granted by a country to a foreigner, allowing them to enter, remain within, or to leave that country. 

voluntourism : the act or practice of doing volunteer or charitable work as needed in the communities where one is vacationing 

voucher : documents or digital codes issued to consumers by tour operators that may be exchanged for tour components 

walk-through : Review of meeting details, or inspection of function room or trade show floor prior to event. 

webinar : Short for web-based seminar, a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the web. A key feature of the webinar is its interactive elements – the ability to give, receive and discuss information. Contrast with webcast in which the data transmission is one way and does not allow interaction between the presenter and the audience. 

wholesaler : A company that creates and markets inclusive tours and FITs for sale through travel agents. Often used interchangeably with “tour operator,” but several distinctions should be drawn: a wholesaler presumably sells nothing at retail, a tour operator does both; a wholesaler does not always create his or her own products, a tour operator virtually always does; and a wholesaler is less inclined than a tour operator to perform local services. 

World Tourism Organization (WTO) : An organization created to promote and develop tourism in the interest of the economic, social and cultural progress of all nations. www.world-tourism.org

About the Author

Stephen Ekstrom is the Chief Strategist at The Tourism Academy | tourismacademy.org, featured speaker at numerous tourism industry conferences, travel writer and host of the Business Class podcast.

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Peak Season

The time period when a hotel experiences its maximum level of occupancy.

Hidden or unanticipated dangers or problems.

An employee at a hotel who assists guests by carrying their luggage.

Positive Space

A reservation that is guaranteed.

Per Person.

Per Person Per Night.

Per Room Per Night.

Predictive Analytics

Techniques that analyse current and historical data to forecast future events.

Travel undertaken primarily for the purpose of reviewing and writing about the destination.

Preferred Rate

A special rate established through negotiation between a hotel and a particular client.

Price Sensitivity

The degree to which a customer’s willingness to purchase is affected by price changes, often measured by how demand fluctuates with price variations.

An outline detailing the events and timing of an agenda.

Property Management System

A property management system (PMS) is a software platform that streamlines the management of bookings and operational duties within a hotel. Its key features encompass management of the front desk, booking systems, distribution channels, room cleaning schedules, pricing, room availability, and transaction processing. While PMS solutions predominantly handle booking and monetary exchanges, they also provide functionalities for overseeing housekeeping duties and managing staff resources.

A commitment by a supplier or wholesaler to refund an agent’s commission and the client’s prepayment if a confirmed booking is cancelled.

Public Area Cleaner

An individual dedicated to maintaining the cleanliness of a hotel’s communal spaces such as the lobby, restrooms, and hallways.

Public Relations Manager

The professional responsible for cultivating and maintaining the hotel’s public image and handling interactions with the media.

Purchasing Manager

The individual in charge of acquiring all necessary goods and services required for hotel operations.

Qualified Rate

A special price offered only to customers who meet certain criteria, such as belonging to a particular business or purchasing a promotional offer.

Qualifying Questions

Specific inquiries posed by hotels to evaluate the viability of potential business.

A standardized configuration that minimizes the time and labour needed for setting up between events, leading to cost savings for the organizing group.

A designation for a hotel room designed to fit five guests comfortably.

The price assigned to a hotel room, generally quoted on a per-night basis.

The standard, full price of a hotel room before any discounts or special offers being applied.

Rate Parity

The practice of maintaining consistent pricing for a hotel room across various marketing and distribution channels, given the same conditions.

A metric measuring revenue share in the market, by comparing a hotel’s RevPAR to the average in the market.

Receiving Fee

A charge that may be imposed by a hotel for accepting and handling parcels received on behalf of guests or event groups.

Receptionist/Front Desk Agent

The hotel employee who serves as the initial contact for guests, responsible for managing check-ins and check-outs, assigning rooms, and responding to primary guest requests.

The area within a hotel where guests are greeted and where room bookings are arranged. This central point also handles the check-in and check-out processes, in addition to responding to guest inquiries.

Receptive Operator

An entity specialized in organizing services for incoming tourists, which may include coordinating local transportation, dining, and accommodation arrangements. They act as facilitators for group tours, providing detailed, personalized plans and support that might not be available through general tour operators.

Refundable Deposit

A security payment returned to the payee if the supplier’s specified conditions are fulfilled.

Repeat Booking/Repeat Business

Securing a reservation or event booking from a client who has previously used the same services.

Reputation Management System

A platform for managing guest reviews for a hotel.

Request for Information (RFI)

A preliminary inquiry sent to hotels or venues seeking detailed information about their facilities and services.

Request for Proposals (RFP)

A formal document sent when soliciting bids for services from hotels or venues for hosting an event, outlining the event’s specific needs and services required.

Resident Manager

An individual residing on the hotel premises tasked with the comprehensive oversight of hotel operations during non-peak hours or overnight.

Restaurant Manager

The individual responsible for the operational management and daily running of the hotel’s restaurant facilities.

Revenue Generated Index (RGI)

Revenue management (rm).

In the context of hospitality, this discipline focuses on optimising room availability and rates to maximise revenue. It aims to match the right product with the right target customer base through the most effective channels, time and price.

Revenue Management System (RMS)

A business platform used to control and carry out revenue management tasks. It combines hotel data with market data to provide hoteliers with the most useful information to make decisions related to revenue management.

Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR)

A metric in hospitality that can be calculated by dividing the average daily room revenue (ADR) by the number of rooms available at the hotel.

Revenue Per Available Square Foot (REVPAS)

An efficiency metric that measures a hotel’s revenue generation from its event spaces, calculated by dividing the total revenue from space rentals by the total square footage available.

RevPAR Index (RPI)

A measure used to assess a hotel’s revenue per available room in comparison to a set of competitor hotels (compset).

A group of rooms held in reserve for a specific set of guests, such as those attending a conference or event.

A categorization of hotel rooms based on similar attributes that determine their value. E.g. Categorization by occupancy (single, double, etc) or by bed (queen, king, twin, etc.).

Rooms Management Module

A component of a hotel’s property management system that keeps track of room statuses, assists with room assignments at check-in, and coordinates guest services.

Room Nights

The total number of hotel rooms occupied, multiplied by the duration of their stay.

A physical or digital system that displays the current status of all the rooms in a hotel.

Room Service

An amenity provided by hotels allowing guests to order food and beverages to be delivered directly to their room.

Room Service Attendant

The individual responsible for delivering food and beverages to guests in their rooms.

Rooms to Space Ratio

The relationship between the number of guest rooms utilized and the amount of meeting space being used.

Rooms Yield

A metric calculated by taking the average revenue from all available rooms, then dividing by the total number of rooms, and again by 365 days.

Run Of House (ROH)

A term referring to the general inventory of hotel rooms that are booked without guaranteeing specific room features or amenities.

Sales Manager

A professional tasked with promoting and selling the hotel’s services to both individual and corporate clients.

Sales Yield

The revenue or profit derived from sales efforts.

Second Tier City

Also known as a mid-sized city, it’s a city chosen for events which, while popular, lacks the extensive infrastructure of larger, ‘first-tier’ cities.

Security Guard

An individual charged with patrolling the hotel property and addressing security concerns and emergencies.

Security Manager

The person in charge of maintaining the safety and security of the hotel, its staff, and its guests.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

This digital marketing technique aims to get website pages to rank as high as possible in search engine results such as Google, Bing or Yahoo! The end objective is to increase organic traffic to the website and boost brand awareness.

Self-learning AI / NLP

A technology that can learn new expressions and topics and apply them to previously presented issues. Read our article exploring how AI self-learning works .

Sentient Chatbots

A conversational AI technology or a machine driven by such technology capable of making judgments of its own rather than following a set of instructions.

Sentiment Analysis

This powerful AI technique analyses the language and content of each conversation to determine whether it has a positive, neutral or negative emotion behind it. Read more about the capacities of our AI .

Service Automation Tools

Hotel service automation tools allow hoteliers to automate many of their services in order to make them more efficient and reduce operational costs. See the list of Service Automation integrations with the HiJiffy solutions.

Shoulder Nights

These are the evenings that see lower hotel bookings compared to the busiest nights.

Shoulder Season

This term denotes the time frame around the high season, which experiences somewhat reduced hotel occupancy, but not the lowest annual rates.

This pertains to reservations made very close to the check-in date, possibly on the same day or a few days before.

Single Room

A hotel accommodation designed for individual occupancy, featuring a single bed.

Special Interest Travel refers to travellers who pursue particular passions or hobbies and seek experiences tailored to their specific interests and expertise, that often need specialized services or amenities.

Site Inspection

The process where an event planner visits and assesses a hotel and its facilities in person for potential use.

An acronym categorizing group travel markets into social, military, educational, religious, and fraternal groups.

Smith Travel Research (STR) Rate

This refers to a collection of periodic reports that monitor and analyse the hotel industry’s supply and demand statistics.

A compilation of defects or issues to be resolved, typically identified during the final stages of a hotel’s construction or refurbishment.

Soft Launch/Opening

The initial, limited opening of a hotel, often with limited services, intended to fine-tune operations before a full-scale opening.

Software as Service (SaaS)

A way of delivering applications online to its users. Instead of a software package to be installed and maintained, it is accessible online where it is available in its most up-to-date version. Usually, SaaS is available via subscription.

A trained and knowledgeable wine professional who curates the wine selection and oversees wine service at a restaurant or hotel.

Standard Operating Procedure(s), which are established procedures to be followed in carrying out a given operation or in a given situation.

Source of Business

The categorization used by hotels to identify and classify where their business is sourced and through which channels.

The deputy chef in the kitchen hierarchy, acting directly under the Head Chef.

Spa Manager

The individual responsible for overseeing all aspects of a hotel’s spa operations, including staff management.

Individuals who remain in a hotel room after their reservation has expired, typically without making further payment.

Special Rate Plan, offering specific rates under particular conditions or to certain groups.

Stay Pattern Management

This involves strategic acceptance of reservations to create the ideal combination of arrival dates and duration of stays, aiming for revenue maximization rather than simply filling the hotel each day.

Same Time Last Year. Refers to a comparison with the corresponding period in the previous year.

This occurs when a hotel halts accepting reservations through its distribution networks due to full occupancy for a specific timeframe.

A more spacious and luxurious accommodation option in a hotel, typically including additional facilities and a distinct living space apart from the bedroom.

Sustainable Tourism

Pertains to practices in travel and hospitality that are mindful of environmental impact, with travellers or hoteliers often inquiring about a hotel’s ecological footprint. Corporates may prefer hotels that demonstrate eco-friendly operations.

Syntax & Semantic Analysis

Capability to address a variety of human language challenges, from the grammatical arrangement of words in a sentence, to understanding the meaning and interpretation of words. Read more about the capacities of our AI.

Total Revenue per Available Room (TRevPAR)

A KPI used in hospitality to indicate the total revenue that the room can generate, including services such as hotel restaurants and bars (unlike RevPAR which is limited to the room rate only).

Tourist Season

The part of the year characterized by a surge in visitors, which can lead to increased accommodation rates.

A specialized market event where businesses exhibit their goods or services within a particular industry, not intended for the general public.

Training Manager

Responsible for the development and implementation of educational programs for hotel staff.

Transient Business

A market segment that includes individual travel bookings, as opposed to group reservations.

Transient Demand

The expected volume of individual guest bookings for a hotel in the near future.

Transient Occupancy Tax

An additional tax imposed on hotel room charges by local governments.

Travel Agent

A travel agent’s fundamental responsibility involves assisting individuals in planning their travels, encompassing the reservation of airfare, accommodations, guided excursions, and providing suggestions for eateries. They evaluate the specific requirements, tastes, and financial considerations of each client to facilitate a seamless travel experience.

Travel Agent Commission (TAC)

The fee paid to travel agents for selling a hotel’s accommodations or services.

The task of rearranging or resetting a meeting space for different events in succession.

Two-pack Hotels

Two distinct hotel entities that operate independently while sharing certain facilities or operational functions.

Material created and published by consumers or guests, such as online reviews or social media posts.

Unconference

A participant-driven meeting where attendees determine the agenda and focus spontaneously, encouraging dialogue and interaction.

Unconstrained Demand

The total market desire for hotel rooms without considering any limitations in availability or capacity.

Uniform Attendant

Oversees the distribution and maintenance of hotel staff uniforms.

Describes a hotel room that is currently vacant.

Unqualified Rates

Room prices offered to guests without any specific conditions for booking.

Upgrade (Room)

The act of providing a guest with a superior room category than what was originally reserved.

Upselling is a sales technique encouraging guests to spend more money on purchasing upgrades and premium versions of what they already booked. Examples include room upgrades, hotel spa treatments, special breakfasts, or tickets for local attractions.

U-Shape Setup

A meeting room configuration where seats are arranged in the form of a ‘U’, with seating typically on the outside facing inwards.

Refers to a hotel room that is ready and available for booking.

An individual who is responsible for parking and retrieving vehicles for guests.

Very Important Person (VIP)

A guest who is afforded extra attention and privileges due to their significance or relationship to the hotel or event.

Virtual Concierge

Also known as a digital concierge, this guest-facing technology powered by AI offers assistance to hotel guests from the moment they book their stay. Conversational AI can automatically answer FAQs, such as breakfast time or directions for a car park, book additional services, and more. Learn about HiJiffy’s Virtual Concierge here .

The act of securing a hotel booking through a telephone conversation.

Waiter/Waitress

Staff members who attend to guests, serving them food and beverages.

The action of relocating guests to a different hotel if the original hotel is overbooked.

A guest who arrives without a prior reservation and books a room, often at a higher rate.

Informal term used for a space designated for staff meetings and coordination during events.

The expected reduction in initially reserved room blocks, indicating the number of rooms the hotel predicts will not be used by the group.

Weekend Rate

Special hotel room rates that apply to weekend stays and are typically lower than weekday rates.

The sale of hotel rooms in bulk, often at a reduced rate.

A company that purchases hotel rooms in large quantities to resell them through various distribution channels.

World Travel Market.

World Tourism Organization.

World Travel & Tourism Council.

Yield Management

The strategic control of inventory to sell it to the right customer at the right time for the right price to maximize revenue; also known as Revenue Management.

Key Benefits

Success Stories

Plans & Pricing

Branding & Press

Guest Messaging

Conversational Marketing

Hotel Chatbot

Digital Concierge

Hotel Messenger

Travel Chatbot

Digital Check-in

WhatsApp Chatbot

Privacy Policy

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Cabaret Set-up: Cocktail tables, chairs, and a stage make up the room set. Generally, no seats will have backs to the stage.

Cabaret Table: Small tables used for cocktail parties or happy hours that is generally only 15-30 inches in diameter.

Campfire Session: Interactive breakout session in small informal groups focused on specific subject matter.

Catering Sales Manager: Hotel rep who handles food & beverage for group sales.

CRS: Acronym for central reservation system

Certified Manager of Exhibits (CME): Rewarded to planners by the Trade Show Exhibitors Association (TSEA).

Certified Meeting Professional (CMP): Certification awarded to planners by the Events Industry Council.

Channel Management: Techniques used by hotels to optimize performance across distribution channels such as OTAs.

Charter Group: An organized group of travelers with a custom itinerary.

C&I: Conference and Incentive bookings.

Closing Ratio: The percentage of calls to contacts resulting in a verified sale.

Cold Call: A solicitation of business to convince potential customers to buy from a salesperson with no previous contact prior to the call.

Competitive Set: A group of hotels by which a property can compare itself to a competitor’s performance as a whole.

Commission: Payment made to a party for bringing business to a hotel.

Commissionable Rate Commitment: Contract where a portion of the room rate is to be paid to a sponsoring group or third party such as an intermediary planner.

Complimentary Ratio: Ratio of rooms provided at no cost to number of occupied rooms. Common incentive offered when negotiating room blocks.

Confidential Tariff: Discounted prices solely quoted to wholesalers, tour operators, and travel agents (unavailable for public use).

Convention Services Manager (CSM): Individual at hotel who oversees event operations.

Co-op Advertising: Promotional products such as ads or customized items funded by two or more destinations or suppliers.

Cooperative Marketing: Programs for marketing involving two or more participating companies, institutions, or organizations.

Cooperative Partner: An independent organization that works alongside a tourism office by providing donations or cash to increase the marketing impact of the tourism office’s program.

Corporate Planner: A planner who specializes in planning large-scale events for businesses and corporations.

Corporate Rate: A special reduced rate for guests staying on business under negotiated terms.

CPOR (Cost per occupied room): Formula that calculates the average cost of occupied rooms. Used as a KPI to monitor operating costs.

Crescent-Round Setup: Seats occupy only about two thirds of  a table so that no attendees have backs to the speaker. Generally used to quickly transform a meeting setup into a banquet setup.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management): System used to track customer information and leads for a business.

Cut-Off Date: Date at which all unused guest rooms in a room block will be released to the public.

Day Guests: Guests who arrive and depart the same day.

Décor: Lighting, table sets, props, and other elements used to create an aesthetic theme for an event.

Dedicated Bandwidth: Bandwidth available to only a specific group.

Definite Booking: Confirmed in writing.

Destination Management Company (DMC): Organization that aids planners via their extensive knowledge and connections pertaining to a specific locale.

Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO): Non-profit financed by occupancy taxes with the goal of promoting travel, tourism, and events in a host city.

Demand: Anticipated business for a set period in the future.

Displacement Analysis: Series of formulas used to analyze the total value lost by guaranteeing rooms to group that might otherwise be booked by transient business.

Distressed Inventory: Last-minute discounted hotel rooms to ensure a property reaches full capacity.

Distressed Sale: A desperate need to sell assets due to unfavorable conditions results in seller receiving a lower price.

Double Occupancy (DBL): The hotel rate covers up to 2 people in the room.

Early Arrival: An agreement with a hotel that allows confirmed guests to check-in before the standard time.

Ecotourism: A responsible way of traveling to natural areas that conserve the environment and sustains the well-being of local people.

English Service: Vegetables are served in bowls and readily on the table for guests to serve themselves. Main course is presented on a tray to the host at the table.

Enterprise Planner: An event planner that works exclusively for a large corporation coordinating brand events that range from internal meetings to conferences.

ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival.

ETD: Estimated Time of Departure.

European Plan (EP): One hotel package that excludes coverage of meals

Exposition: Another term for a large exhibit or trade show.

Extranet: Back-end of a hotel sales website allowing hotels to log in and enter all their rates, availability, and restrictions.

Professionals in the hospitality industry say these are the hotel terms, acronyms, and abbreviations you need to know. Click To Tweet

F&B: Industry acronym for food & beverage

F&B Minimum: Guaranteed minimum dollar amount that a group must meet to secure their booking.

Familizartion Tours (FAM): Organized trips for members of the travel trade to familiarize them with tourism destinations.

Feeder City: A distant city that attracts travelers to gateway cities.

Fenced rate: Rate that is contingent on certain requirements being fulfilled by the booking party.

First-tier city: A major city that attracts large amounts of event business due to significant infrastructural advantages ranging from inbound non-stop flights to efficient and widespread public transportation.

Folio: An overview of a guest’s hotel account including all charges and payments made, stored at the reception desk.

Forecast: An analysis that renders revenue expectations for an upcoming period.

Forecasting Model: Models or systems used to predict KPIs.

Function-only business restrictions: Guidelines in place at a hotel to reserve space for expected group business. Also known as event-only business restrictions.

Full Board: A rate that includes a bed and covers all standard meals.

Gala Dinner: Social function that generally includes speakers or performers.

Global Distribution System (GDS): A computer software company that provides travel agencies with hardware for airplane, hotel, and car reservations.

Government Planner: A planner who manages event for government functions at the city, state, or local level.

Gross Operating Profit (GOP): The result of the hotel’s gross operating revenue, minus gross operating expenses.

Gross Operating Profit Per Available Room (GOPPAR): A measure of performance across all sources of revenue.

Gross Operating Revenue (GOR): A hotel’s total operating revenue.

Group Demand: Group business predicted for a specific period or date.

Group Rate: Rate secured for all rooms in a room block for an event.

Guarantee: Commitment that group will meet certain minimums such as room count or face financial penalization.

Half-Board: A rate that includes a bed, breakfast, and a choice of lunch or dinner.

Half-Pension: Similar to a half-board, however secondary meal is dinner.

Heads in Beds: The hospitality industry’s reason for existence, to sell hotel rooms and increase the occupancy rate of the hotel.

Hollow Circle Setup: Circular room arrangement in which tables/chairs all face one another.

Hollow Square Setup: Rectangular room arrangement in which tables/chairs all face one another.

Hot Buttons: An issue that evokes emotional reactions, issues, and legal principles in hotel contracts that causes friction between planners and suppliers

Hotelligence: Historical electronic booking data reports from Global Distribution Systems (GDS) that include information on rates and length of stay patterns, business sources, for their local competitive sets, and individual subscriber properties.

House Count: The total guest occupancy of a hotel at any given moment.

House Manager: The manager underneath the General Manager in ranking that is responsible for an individual hotel, unlike the General Manager–who covers more than one.

Icon: A famous landmark or facility associated with the destination.

Inbound Tourism: The traffic of international tourists spending foreign money contributing to the export economy.

Incidental Charges: Anything that costs extra than the hotel room rate. (e.g. parking, in-room movies, and internet).

Incentive Travel: A prized or rewarded trip to stimulate the productivity of employees.

Incentive Fee: A highly negotiated management fee provided to the manager based on incremental profitability and manager’s operational expertise.

Independent Hotel: A hotel with no affiliation with a franchise or chain.

Intranet: A private computer network using Internet to securely share part of an organization’s information within itself.

Intelligent Hotels: Hotels that use state of the art technology to run operations.

InterActiveCorp (IAC): A U.S. company that owns various online travel-related businesses.

Inventory (relative to hotel distribution): Rooms available the hotel has to sell across all channels.

Island Booth/Stand/Exhibit: Aisles are created on all four sides of the booth, stand, or exhibit .

JD Power: A company that conducts guest satisfaction surveys.

Joint Venture: An agreement between two or more individuals or businesses concur on sharing profit, loss, and control in a specific endeavor.

Add smarter hotel sales lingo to your business vocabulary with these 230+ hotel terms. Click To Tweet

KPI (Key Performance Indicator): Metric widely used as a measurement of business performance.

Lanai: A room that has a balcony or patio with an overlook of water or garden.

Last Room Availability (LRA): A combination of negotiated and group rates that allow agents to book a hotel’s last available room at a contracted rate.

Lead: Term for a potential booking that has shown interest but has not yet booked. Usually used for group business .

Lead Conversion: A lead that has been changed into an account, contact, or potential sale.

Length of Stay (LOS): Total nights that a guest spends with a hotel.

Look-to-book ratio: Rate of traffic that looks at a listing on a website compared to the number that book.

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Market Parity: The process of assessing your product or service contribution against a competitor set to define your market price and confirm competitiveness.

Market Segments: An identified group in an overall market to which a specific service appeals. This is used in the hotel industry to determine who responds to a lead.

Market Share: A percentage of business within a market category.

Mattress Run: A traveler who is staying a number of nights in order to rack up points for their frequent stay program specific to that hotel chain.

Merchant Rate: A business model used by OTAs to markup hotel net rates to sell to the public.

MICE: Industry acronym for Meetings, incentives, Conference, & Exhibitions.

Minimum Acceptable Rate (MAR): Lowest rate that a hotel will accept from a group, determined via displacement analysis.

Net Rate: A hotel rate given by travel agents and tour companies that can be marked up and sold at a higher rate to the end customer.

No-Show: Term for reservations where the confirmed party does not show up without contacting the hotel to cancel or change.

Occupancy: The measure of fill by dividing the total number of rooms occupied by the number of rooms available.

Occupancy Forecast: A prediction of occupancy for a set period that helps hotels define their business goals. Usually communicated as a number of rooms or percentage of total rooms available.

Occupancy Rate: An average of occupancy over a defined period of dates.

Offsite: A company meeting or function that occurs off company grounds and requires external space.

OTA: Acronym for Online Travel Agent/Agencies such as Expedia.

Other Revenue: Term for group revenue that is not made from room blocks or food and beverage.

Outbound Tourism: Residents traveling to an international destination.

Outside Vendor: Any supplier that is not in-house nor a preferred vendor of the hotel.

Overbooking: When more rooms are sold than are physically available to sell.

Owner’s Priority: An incentive fee included in hotel management agreements earned by a manager after the owner receives a return of a specified portion of the investment in the property.

Owner’s Total Investment: Includes total amounts spent to acquire, develop, construct, and finance the hotel.

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Partition: Portable wall or barrier that is wheel-mounted and can be used to divide a large space into smaller spaces.

Pax: Another term for number of people or passengers.

Peak Night: Term for the date of an event where the room block is the largest.

Peak Season: Season or set of dates where occupancy for a hotel is at its highest.

Pipe & Drape: Tubing and drapery that separates individual booths or stations. Usually constructed of lightweight aluminum.

Pitfalls: A danger or problem that is hidden or unexpected.

Positive Space: A confirmed reservation.

PPPN: Industry acronym for per person, per night.

PRPN: Industry acronym for per room, per night.

Press Trip: Travels with the main purpose of writing about that destination.

Preferred Rate: A negotiated rate between the hotel and a specific client.

Programme: A schedule that gives the details and times for pieces of the event agenda.

Profits Per Available Room (ProPAR): A metric that calculates net revenue per available room. Also known as Net RevPAR.

Property Management System (PMS): A software hotels use to manage all operations.

Proprietary Booking Engine: An individual or group of hotels that own and operate their Internet reservation system.

Proposal: General information about what services and products a hotel can offer for customer’s meeting or event.

Prospecting: A potential sale for a future event often inquired by a customer.

Protected: A guarantee from a supplier or wholesaler to reimburse an agent commission and client on prepaid confirmed bookings, regardless of cancellation.

Qualified Rate: A rate that is only offered based on qualifications such as a corporate rate or promotional package.

Qualifying Questions: Particular questions from hotels used to examine potential business.

Quick Set: A setup template that reduces turnover times and work between events and thus results in a price break for the group.

Quin: Refers to hotel rooms that can accommodate five people.

Rack Rate: The original price of a hotel room before any discounts or promotional rates are applied.

Rate Parity: Under certain conditions, a travel supplier, such as a hotel, keeps the same price across all different distribution channels.

Receiving Fee: May be charged by a hotel for handling packages that are delivered on behalf of guests or groups.

Receptive Operator: Specialists who handle arrangements for incoming visitors, such as airport transfers, restaurants, and accommodations.

Refreshment Break: Period between sessions of an event that is accompanied by snacks and beverages.

Refundable Deposit: Deposit that may be returned if certain conditions are not met by the supplier.

Repeat Business: Returning business generating increase in profits

Repeat Booking: When repeat business is booked on behalf of the same client.

Request for Information (RFI): Sent to a hotel or venue to request further details as to the property and event space.

Request for Proposals (RFP): Document containing the services and requirements for an event that is sent to hotels to solicit a bid.

Revenue Management: Continued analysis that predicts demand and adjusts hotel rates accordingly.

RevPar: Revenue per available room calculated on the number of rooms available to sell in a hotel.

RevPAR Index (RPI): Metric that indicates how a specific hotels RevPar compares to that of its compset.

Revenue Per Available Square Foot (REVPAS): A metric that used to calculate the performance of a hotel in regards to event space bookings. RevPAS = Total space rental revenue / total square feet of event space.

Room Block: A specific set or count of rooms that are reserved for guests in a group.

Room Class: A grouping of rooms based on similar value characteristics.

Room Nights: Rooms blocked or occupied multiplied by the number of nights the rooms are reserved.

Room Rack: A continually updated card index system reflecting occupied and vacant rooms

Rooms Management Module: An application from a computer-based property management system used in the front office to maintain up-to-date information on the status of rooms, assists in the assignment of rooms during registration, and helps coordinate various guest services

Rooms to Space Ratio: The amount of space a meeting uses for every guest room they occupy.

Rooms Yield: An equation averaging revenue from all rooms, divided by number of rooms in a hotel, divided by 365 nights.

Run Of House (ROH): ROH in hotel terms means a basic room type with no guaranteed specific amenities.

Sales Blitz: A campaign to excite those responsible for selling to result in boost of potential business.

Sales Yield: The income or profit arising from sales.

Scout Lead: A research tool to scope out potential sale lead.

Second Tier City: More appropriately referred to as a midsize city. Term for popular event city that does not meet infrastructural requirements such as convention space to be considered a first-tier city .

Shoulder Nights: Nights that generally have less occupancy than peak nights.

Shoulder Season: Period adjacent to the peak season with lower occupancy, but not the lowest occupancy of the year.

Site Inspection : In-person evaluation of the hotel and event space by a planner.

SIT: Special Interest Travel.

Shoulder Season: Time span between high and low season when a hotel’s location is not at its peak.

SMERF : An acronym for the group travel market for social, military, educational, religious, and fraternal segment.

Smith Travel Research (STR) Rate: A series of reports, monthly, weekly, or daily, tracking supply and demand data for the hotel industry.

Social Event: An event with the primary purpose of networking or celebrating a life event such as a wedding.

Source of Business: A breakdown structure a hotel uses to track how business brought in and which channel it came from.

Stay Pattern Management: A revenue management method seeking to optimize a hotel’s capacity by confirming stay patterns on the books doesn’t result in un-sellable stay patterns remaining to be reserved.

Stop Sell: The act of stopping the hotel from being booked on distribution channels, used when hotel is sold out during a certain time period.

Third Party Planner: An experienced intermediary who may coordinate site selection or end-to-end event management for a planner.

Total RevPAR: Total revenue per available room. The sum of net revenues from all operating departments in addition to rentals and other income per available room for the time period, divided by total available rooms during a specified time period.

Trade Show: Industry-specific exhibition of products or services. An exhibition of products and/or services held for members of a common or related industry. Not open to the general public.

Transient Business: Segment of business comprised of individual bookings as opposed to bookings from a group.

Transient Demand: Prediction for business from the transient segment for an upcoming period.

Transient Occupancy Tax: City or County tax added to the price of a hotel room.

Trial Close: A technique used to close a sale by ensuring the stakeholder understands the conditions of purchase and is serious about buying.

Turn: The process of completely changing a meeting room set-up from one event to the next.

Two-pack Hotels: A conjoined property of two hotels that share resources, such as back-of-house operations, but operate separately.

Unconference: Conference where the agenda is dictated in real-time by participants. Usually favors discussion and interaction.

Unconstrained Demand: The demand for a hotel regardless of any capacity limitations.

Unqualified Rates: Rates offered to hotel guests without restrictions or conditions for booking.

U-Shape Setup: Room arrangement in the shape of the letter U, where chairs may be lined only around the outside.

Very Important Person (VIP): Individual who should receive special or elevated treatment based on their role or relationship to an event.

Voice: Taking a hotel reservation over the phone.

Walk: Moving guests to a nearby hotel when overbooking occurs.

War Room: Another term for the office for meeting on-site staff.

Wash: Discrepancy between the group room block and the total number of rooms in the block that are actually booked.

Wholesaler: A third-party organization that sells hotel rooms such as sites, distribution channels, extranets, or merchants.

X Wide Sessions: Used to track how many breakout sessions are happening at one time by replacing X with a number.

Yield Management: Process of understanding, anticipating, and reacting to consumer behavior to maximize revenue. Also known as Revenue Management.

Z Hotel: A boutique hotel set in various locations around the world.

Now you know the most common hotel terms!

Although some hotel terms may be recognizable, others can now be added to your business vocabulary. Refer to this hotel terms dictionary to make sure your lingo means the same while talking with business partners.

Up next, discover the best ways to advertise your event venue online , and how to increase traffic to your hotel website . Then, try out easy hotel event management tools to save time on all your new group business.

Have more questions about hotel terms?

The hospitality industry is the broader industry that includes the hotel industry. It also includes, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruises, and more.

Daily Delegate Rate – A per person rate for conference room rental, refreshments, catering, and any other services that a conference/meeting might require.

Room Revenue Multiplier – A multiplier used in determining the value of hotels. Equal to the hotel’s value divided by the Revenue per Room. Talking in terms of RRM helps level the playing field when discussing different types of hotels.

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Glossary of hotel jargon

By Sam Weston

Don't know your ADRs from your FITs? Don't worry, you're not alone. This handy A to Z hotel jargon buster will help get you up to speed with the language of the hospitality industry.

ABPCO – Association of British Professional Conference Organisers ( http://www.abpco.org )

ABTA – Association of British Travel Agents ( http://www.abta.com )

ADR   (or ARR) – Average Daily Rate, or Average Room Rate (calculated by dividing revenue generated from income from hotel rooms sold by the total number of rooms sold)

Advance Rates – Generally discounted rates to encourage guests to book in advance.

AGOP – Adjusted Gross Operating Profit (equal to the gross operating profit minus the hotel management base fee and any additional expenses)

Allocation – usually refers to an ‘allocation of rooms' (e.g a conference may have an allocation of rooms at an agreed rate)

Amadeus – A common GDS (Global Distribution System)

ATL – Above The Line (generally refers to mass marketing campaigns to drive awareness)

ARR – Average Room Rate (Total room revenues divided by the number of rooms occupied, excluding any rooms offered complimentary)

B&B – Rates that include Bed and Breakfast.

Back of House – Area of the hotel that is generally off limits to guests (e.g kitchens, offices, storage etc.)

BAR – Best Available Rates (typically rates that are the ‘best available' at the time of booking, often these are short lead bookings)

Base Fee – Agreed upon hotel management fee earned by the hotel operator.

Benchmarking – comparing your hotel against competitors. This could include benchmarking by product/service, room rate, quality etc.

BHA – British Hospitality Association ( http://www.bha.org.uk )

Boutique Hotels – Generally refers to smaller, luxury hotels that differentiate themselves by their service and product offering. For example, a boutique hotel may have different, themed rooms etc.

BSC – Balanced Scorecard. A performance management tool for managers.

BTL – Below The Line (generally refers to niche marketing campaigns focused on return on investment)

Business Guest/Traveller – Those travelling for business.

C&B (or C and B) – Conference and Banqueting.

C&E (or C and E) – Conference and Events.

C&I (or C and I) – Conference and Incentive bookings.

CDP – Chef de Partie (in charge of a particular area of production within the kitchen)

Check In – The process by which a guests registers their arrival at a hotel and receives their key/keycards.

Check Out – The process by which a guest settles their bill and hands back any key/keycards.

Commis Chef – A basic chef in larger kitchens. May have just completed training or part of a training process.

Corporate Rates – Rates negotiated by corporates/companies with a hotel or sales team. Typically these are lower than standard consumer rates as corporates/companies can offer a high volume of annual bookings.

COS – Cost of Sale.

Cover – Refers to diners within a restaurant. E.g) A hotel restaurant achieved 30 covers (30 people dined)

CRM – Customer Relationship Management. Commonly automated to include pre and post stay elements, along with loyalty programmes etc.

CRO – Central Reservations Office – the central ‘hub' that handles bookings of behalf of a hotel (or chain).

CRS – Central/Computerised Reservations System. The system that facilitates the booking of rooms, conference etc. This might be via telephone, website, email etc.

Day Guests – Guests that arrive and depart the same day.

DBB – Rates that include Dinner, Bed and Breakfast.

DDR – Day/Daily Delegate Rate (per person rate for conference room hire, refreshments, catering etc.)

DMO – Destination Marketing Organisation. A company/group responsible for the promotion of an area (this could be regionally, nationally or town/city specific).

DND – Do Not Disturb.

Domestic Travellers/Tourism – Residents that travel within their own country.

DOSM – Director of Sales and Marketing

EcoTourism – socially responsible travel. Guests may opt for ‘green hotels' who operate with sustainable practices.

ETA – Estimated Time of Arrival.

F&B (or F and B) – Food and Beverage. Refers to restaurant and bar business.

Fam Tour/Trip – Familiarisation tours/trips generally refer to complimentary stays for corporate guests who may be considering using the hotel for their organisation (accommodation, conferences etc.)

FF&E – Furniture, Furnishings and Equipment.

FIT – Free and Independent Traveller.

FOH (or Front of House) – Generally refers to guest facing staff within the reception area of the hotel. These may include receptionists, concierge and room porters.

Full Board – Rate that includes bed, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

GDS – Global Distribution System. Network of electronic reservation systems used globally by travel agents booking hotel rooms (and airlines). Common GDS include Sabre, Galileo and Amadeus.

GM – General Manager.

GOP – Gross Operating Profit (Total revenue less expenses)

GOR – Gross Operating Revenue.

Green Hotels – Generally refers to hotels making an active effort to operate sustainably and reduce their environmental impact.

Group Rates – Negotiated rates (usually discounted against standard rates) for group travel. This can include guests attending conferences, meetings and tours etc.

GS – Guest Services.

GSM – Guest Services Manager.

Half Board – Rate that includes bed, breakfast and either lunch or dinner.

Head Chef – in charge of the kitchen, including Sous Chef(s), Chef de Partie(s) and Commis Chef(s).

HOD – Head of Department

House Count – The total occupancy of the hotel at any given moment.

IBE – Internet Booking Engine.

Independent Hotel/Property – An individual hotel that isn't part of a chain/group.

KPI – Key Performance Indicator. A target against which success can be measured. For example, an occupancy rate of 90%, an ADR of X etc.

Late Arrival – Guests that advise they will be later than the agreed time of arrival.

Late Charge  – Charges that may be passed on to a guest after their departure from a hotel. For example, telephone calls or mini bar charges that weren't determined before the guest left.

Late Check Out – When a guest leaves the hotel later than the agreed time of departure. This may be at an agreed ‘Late Check Out' fee.

Late Show – A guest who arrives later than the agreed time of their reservation.

Lead Time – The length of time between when a booking is made and the actual stay date. Typically hotels prefer long lead times as it allows them to plan room inventories/rates.

Leisure Guest – Those travelling for pleasure.

Limited Service – A hotel that may not offer the full range of services typically expected of a hotel. E.g no restaurant services is available.

LOS (or Length of Stay) – The duration of a guests visit. E.g 3 nights.

Loyalty Programme – A rewards programme for those that stay at the hotel regularly. Rewards can vary, but typically include free stays, dining vouchers etc.

M&IT – Meetings and Incentive Travel.

MCI – Meetings, Conventions and Incentives.

MICE – Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions.

MLOS – Minimum Length of Stay.

MOM – Month on Month.

Mystery Guest – A quality control measure whereby an undercover employee (usually of an external organisation) poses as a guest to evaluate the performance of a hotel.

Net Rate – A wholesale rate to allow a third party markup.

NS (or No Show)  – A guest who doesn't show up, despite having a reservation.

Occ (or Occupancy) – The rate of occupation of a hotels total rooms, at any given time. For example, an occupancy rate of 95% would mean that 95% of a hotels room inventory is presently occupied.

OOO – Out of Order.

Operator – Could refer to a hotel management company managing a hotel under a management agreement.

OTA – Online Travel Agent/Agency. A 3rd party who often sells a hotels room inventory on their behalf (and is paid a commission for any bookings referred) Examples of some of the main OTA's include Expedia, Booking.com, Hotels.com etc.

Pax – Number of people/passengers. E.g) 6 pax would be 6 people/passengers.

PDQ – Payment terminals that allow merchants to ‘Process Data Quickly'

PIP – Property Improvement Plan (refurbishment)

PMS – Property Management System

POS – Point of Sale.

QA – Quality Assurance.

Rack Rate – The standard or default rate for a room, before any discounts (for example, advance purchase discounts) are applied.

RDR – Residential Delegate Rate (per person rate for conference room hire, refreshments, catering including overnight accommodation)

Refurbishment – The process of restoring, renovating or modernising a hotels rooms or public areas to bring them up to a certain standard.

Res – Reservation.

RevPAR – Room Revenue, Per Available Room. The gross room revenue is divided by the amount of rooms to calculate the RevPAR – a common figure used to benchmark performance (based on rates and hotel occupancy levels)

RFP – Request For Proposal. Often requested by corporate guests. E.g) They may require a hotel to provide a response to a RFP to outline negotiated rates for the following year.

RMS – Rate Management System

ROH – Run of House. No room has been allocated to a guest before arrival, so they will get any room available.

ROI – Return on Investment.

Room Night(s) – Essentially refers to an occupied room. E.g) Guest A has booked 5 room nights (they are staying for 5 nights) or Corporate Guest B accumulated 20 room nights last year (they stayed for a total of 20 nights)

Room Inventory – the volume of rooms available to be sold.

Room Only – A rate for the room only, no extras included.

Rooms Yield – Average revenue of all rooms, divided by the number of rooms in a hotel, divided by 365 nights.

S&M (or S and M) – Sales and Marketing.

Short Lead – refers to bookings made at short notice (e.g on the day of arrival or within a few days of arrival).

Snag List – Generally refers to a list of problems/issues that need addressed (usually as a result of a new hotel launch).

Soft Launch/Opening – Partial launch of a hotel property, perhaps at a reduced service level, usually to test the service offering prior to launching in earnest.

Sous Chef – ‘Under Chef'. Second in command after the Head Chef.

SRP – Special Rate Plan.

Sustainable Tourism – Generally refers to environmentally conscious hoteliers/guests. They may request details of the hotel's carbon footprint etc. Some corporates may select a hotel based on its sustainable practice.

TA – Travel Agent (or can sometimes be used to refer to TripAdvisor).

TAC – Travel Agents Commission.

TRA – The Restaurant Association.

Upgrade – Process by which a guest is offered a better room than he/she booked.

Upsell – Process by which a guest is offered (at a cost) additional services or upgrades (often at the point of purchase or upon arrival to the hotel).

VisitBritain – The name used by the British Tourist Authority, the tourist board of Great Britain incorporated under the Development of Tourism Act 1969, to promote tourism in Britain.

VisitEngland – Tourist board for England.

VisitScotland – Tourist board for Scotland.

VisitWales – Tourist board for Wales.

Walk In – A guest that hasn't pre-booked, but simply walks in and reserves a room. Often they'll pay a higher rate (even Rack Rate) accordingly.

WBE – Web Booking Engine.

WTM – World Travel Market.

WTO – World Tourism Organisation.

WTTC – World Travel & Tourism Council.

Yield – Hotel's profit margin when a room is sold (less any commissions etc.)

Yield Management – The practice of raising or lowering prices based on demand.

YOY – Year on Year.

For updates, as we add to the glossary, click  on Hotel Jargon Buster on Hotelspeak.com .

About the author

Sam Weston is a Senior Account Manager at Occupancy Marketing , an internet marketing agency for the travel and tourism sector. The company's focus is on increasing all types of conversions from phone calls and wedding brochure requests, to all-important online hotel bookings.

Spotted something Sam's missed? Drop him email and we'll add it in!

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Hospitality and Tourism Glossary

Here’s a glossary of common terms used in the hospitality and tourism industry:

• Accommodation : A place where travelers can stay overnight, such as hotels, resorts, lodges, or bed and breakfasts.
• All-inclusive : A package or rate that includes all meals, drinks, and amenities at a hotel or resort.
• Attractions : Places or activities that are popular with tourists, such as landmarks, museums, amusement parks, or natural sites.
• Bed and Breakfast (B&B) : An accommodation that provides overnight stays and breakfast, often in a private home or small inn.
• Concierge : A hotel staff member who assists guests with various services, such as booking tours, making restaurant reservations, or providing local information.
• Destination : A place or location that travelers visit for leisure, business, or other purposes.
• Ecotourism : Tourism that focuses on environmentally friendly practices and promotes the conservation of natural resources.
• Front Desk : The reception area of a hotel or lodging establishment where guests check-in, check-out, and seek assistance.
• Guidebook : A publication or digital resource that provides information about a particular destination, including recommendations for accommodations, attractions, and activities.
• Hospitality : The friendly and welcoming treatment of guests, including providing quality services and creating a comfortable environment.
• Itinerary : A detailed plan or schedule of travel, including transportation, accommodations, activities, and timings.
• Occupancy Rate : The percentage of available rooms or accommodations that are occupied by guests during a specific period. It is often used as a measure of hotel performance.
• Package Tour : A prearranged tour that includes transportation, accommodations, and often meals and guided activities.
• Resort : A large commercial establishment that offers various amenities, such as accommodations, dining, recreational facilities, and entertainment, often in a scenic or recreational area.
• Sustainable Tourism : Tourism that aims to minimize its impact on the environment, preserve local culture, and support the well-being of local communities.
• Tour Operator : A company that organizes and sells travel packages, including transportation, accommodations, and activities.
• Travel Agency : A business that assists travelers in planning and booking their trips, including flights, accommodations, tours, and other travel-related services.
• Visa : An official document or endorsement issued by a country’s government that allows a traveler to enter and stay in the country for a specified period.
• Wanderlust : A strong desire or urge to travel and explore new places.
• Yield Management : The practice of optimizing revenue and profitability in the hospitality industry by dynamically adjusting prices and inventory based on demand and market conditions.

Key Hotel Terminology and Acronyms Every Hospitality Professional Should Know

Hotels are an important part of the tourism industry, and there is a lot of specialised vocabulary associated with them. In this article, we will look at some of the most common terms and phrases used in the hotel industry, as well as some key acronyms that you might come across.  With this knowledge, you’ll be able to navigate your way around a hotel with ease and understand what industry insiders are talking about.

Key Hotel Terminology Definitions:

Accommodation: A place to stay, typically a room in a hotel, motel, or inn.

ADR: Average Daily Rate. A hotel’s average rate per day, normally calculated by dividing the total revenue achieved during a given period by the number of room nights sold during that period.

ARM: Average Room Rate. The average price paid per room, normally calculated by dividing the total revenue achieved during a given period by the number of rooms sold during that period.

Arrival: A guest who arrives at a hotel.

Amenities: Extra services and facilities that a hotel offers its guests, beyond the basics of a room and bed. Services and facilities can include things like a swimming pool, spa, fitness center, restaurant, bar, concierge, 24-hour room service, laundry service, and Wi-Fi.

B&B: Bed and breakfast. A type of accommodation that typically includes a bedroom and private bathroom, as well as a continental breakfast.

Best Available Rate (BAR): The lowest rate that a hotel is currently offering, which may vary depending on the date and availability.

Blackout Dates: Dates when a hotel is not able to offer a discount, e.g. due to high demand.

Booking: The process of reserving a room at a hotel.

Booking window: The period of time during which a customer can book a room in order to receive a specific rate or discount.

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Breakfast included: A type of room rate that includes breakfast in the price.

Business Traveller: A person who travels for work, either regularly or occasionally.

Check-in: The process of arriving at a hotel and registering for your stay.

Check-out: The process of leaving a hotel and settling your bill.

Children’s policy: A hotel’s policy regarding guests who are under 18 years of age.

Commission: A fee that is charged by a hotel to a travel agent or tour operator for making a booking.

Concierge: A hotel staff member who is available to assist guests with their needs, such as making restaurant reservations or arranging transportation.

Continental breakfast: A type of breakfast that typically includes coffee, tea, pastries, and fruit.

Corporate rate: A discounted room rate that is available to business travellers.

CRS: Central Reservations System . A system used by hotels to manage room reservations.

Do not disturb: A sign that guests can hang on their door to indicate that they do not wish to be disturbed.

Double room: A type of hotel room that has two beds, meant for two people.

Duty manager: A hotel employee who is responsible for the day-to-day running of the hotel in the absence of the general manager.

Eco-friendly: Describes products or services that have minimal negative impact on the environment.

En-suite: A bathroom that is attached to and accessed from a bedroom.

Family room: A type of hotel room that is larger than a standard room and can accommodate a family or group.

Fitness centre: A facility at a hotel that offers guests the use of gym equipment and other exercise facilities.

Full board: A type of room rate that includes all meals (usually breakfast, lunch and dinner) in the price.

Full-service hotel: A type of hotel that offers a wide range of services and amenities, such as a swimming pool, fitness centre, and restaurants.

GDS: Global Distribution System . A system used by travel agents and other industry insiders to search for and book hotel rooms, flights, and other travel products.

Half-board: A type of meal plan that includes breakfast and dinner.

High season: The busiest travel time of the year, when hotels are typically more expensive.

Holidays: Popular travel times during the year, such as Christmas or Easter.

Hotel star rating: A rating system used to classify hotels, from one to five stars.

Hostel: A type of budget accommodation that typically has shared rooms and bathrooms.

Individual booking: A hotel reservation that is made by one person, as opposed to a group booking.

Keycard: A card that is used to open your hotel room door, instead of a traditional key.

Length of stay: The number of nights that a guest stays at a hotel.

Low season: The least busy travel time of the year, when hotels are typically less expensive.

Loyalty scheme: A scheme offered by some hotels where guests can earn points or benefits (such as discount or free stays) for being loyal to the hotel brand

Manager: An employee of a hotel who is responsible for the overall running of the property.

Meal plan: A type of package that includes meals, often offered at a discount.

Mini-bar: A small fridge in a hotel room that is stocked with drinks and snacks (usually chargeable).

Motel: A type of hotel that is typically located near a highway, with easy access for travellers.

No-show: A guest who does not arrive at the hotel on the expected date of arrival, without cancelling their reservation in advance.

Occupancy: The percentage of rooms in a hotel that are occupied at any given time.

Off-peak: A time of year when there is less demand for travel, and thus hotels are typically less expensive.

On-site restaurant: A restaurant that is located within the hotel property.

OTA: Online Travel Agency . A company that sells hotel rooms and other travel-related products and services online, e.g. Expedia, Kayak, or Orbitz.

Peak season: The busiest time of the year for travel, when hotels are typically more expensive.

PMS: Property Management Software is software built to automate admin and streamline your business.

Porter: A hotel staff member who helps guests with their luggage.

Rate: The cost of a room at a hotel, typically given per night.

Reception: The lobby or front desk area of a hotel, where guests check in and check out.

Room block: A group of rooms set aside for a particular event or group of guests, usually at a discounted rate.

Room service: A service offered by some hotels in which guests can order food and drink to be delivered to their room.

RevPAR: Revenue per available room. A measure of a hotel’s profitability, calculated by multiplying a hotel’s average room rate by its occupancy rate.

Single room: A type of hotel room that has one bed, meant for one person.

Suite: A type of hotel room that is larger and has more amenities than a standard room, often including a separate living area.

Technology: Various tools that hotels use to improve the guest experience , such as electronic key cards and in-room entertainment systems.

Tourist season: A time of year when there is an influx of tourists, often resulting in higher hotel prices.

Travel agent: A professional who helps people plan their travel, often handling bookings and reservations.

Unoccupied: A room that is not currently being used by guests.

Vacancy: A room that is available for guests to book.

Weekend rate: A lower rate offered by some hotels for stays during the weekends.

Hotel terminology can be confusing, but it’s important to know the key terms and jargon in order to understand the industry. With this guide, you’ll be able to understand the basics of hotel terminology and be more familiar with the industry jargon.

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100+ Essential Hotel Vocabulary Words in English [With Audio]

Whether you’re already employed or looking for a job in the hotel industry, it’s important to know the words and phrases used in hotels.

Having the right vocabulary will help you have a smooth experience at work and succeed in your career.

In this post, you’ll learn over 100 common hotel words and phrases so you can communicate effectively with hotel staff and guests from all over the world . 

We’ll cover everything from making reservations and different types of rooms to hotel facilities and services for guests.

By learning these words, you’ll improve your language skills and feel more confident in your abilities. 

English Vocabulary for Working in a Hotel

Types of beds and rooms, room features, inside a hotel room, hotel features and services, getting around the hotel, hotel staff, taking reservations, arrival/check-in, checking out, how to learn hotel vocabulary, go on a virtual scavenger hunt, watch authentic english media, and one more thing....

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

First, we’ll start with the types of rooms and beds that are available in a standard (regular) hotel.

Mattress and bed sizes vary from country to country, and from manufacturer to manufacturer (the company who makes the mattresses). Below are the standard U.S. bed sizes:

• Twin bed /  Single bed — A twin or single bed is the smallest type of bed (around 39 x 74 inches), where one person can sleep.
• Full-size bed / Double bed — Nowadays, a full-size or double bed (around 54 x 74 inches) is usually for one person, but two people could sleep in it (very close together). 
• Queen-size bed — A queen-size bed is bigger than a full bed (around 60 x 80 inches), and is usually shared by two adults.
• King-size bed — A king-size bed is the largest size of standard beds (around 76 x 80 inches), and can comfortably sleep two people.

Now that we know the bed sizes, let’s take a look at standard hotel room types. Be careful though, because these terms are used differently by different hotels. Check at your hotel to see what each type of room contains.

• Single room — A single room is for one person and usually has a full-size bed.
• Double room — A double room usually has space for two guests, with a full-size or queen-size bed.
• Twin room — A twin room usually has space for two guests but in two separate beds (twin/single beds).
• Triple room — A triple room can sleep three guests, either in one double bed and a single bed or three single beds. 
• Suite — A suite is bigger than your normal hotel room. In fancy hotels, suites could even have multiple rooms. You might also see an executive suite or a family suite.
• Connecting rooms — This means that two rooms are connected together by a door going from one room directly into the other. Large groups of people or families might ask to be put in connecting rooms.
• Adjoining rooms — Rooms that are next to each other but not connected by a door.

Here are various features that hotel rooms might offer.

• Amenities — Amenities is just another way of saying “features,” often used in the hotel business. Hotel room amenities can include air conditioning/heating, internet access, a balcony and more. Hotel amenities can include a pool, gym, etc. (more on these later). 
• Air Conditioning (AC) — Air conditioning (usually shortened to “AC”) keeps rooms cool when the weather is hot.
• Heating — When the weather is cold, heating will keep the rooms and hotel warm.
• Bathroom — This is the room where you’ll find a toilet, sink and shower. Most hotel rooms have their own bathroom attached (within the room).
• Internet access — If a hotel has internet access, it means guests can use the internet somewhere inside. They might have Wi-Fi (wireless internet), which could be free or cost money to use and typically requires a password to access.
• Wireless printing — This allows guests to print from their own computers to a printer somewhere else in the hotel (without being connected to the printer with a wire).
• Fan — Some rooms might have ceiling fans or electric fans to move air around and keep the room cool. 
• Balcony — A balcony is a small outdoor space connected to the hotel room. Balconies are on floors higher than the ground level (second floor and higher).
• Patio —A patio is a paved area outside (on ground level) that usually has an outdoor table and chairs.
• Smoke-free — If rooms are smoke-free, it means that smoking is not allowed. Smoking and non-smoking  are two other terms used to describe if smoking is allowed or not.
• Complimentary — This adjective means “free.” Often hotels will serve a complimentary breakfast (included in the cost of your room) or have complimentary shampoos and soaps in the bathroom.

Here are some words that you might need to use when talking about the inside of a hotel room.

• Bathtub — A bathtub is in the bathroom, where people can wash themselves by taking a bath.
• Shower — Showers allow people to wash themselves while standing up. The shower head is the part that sprays water and the drain  is on the floor, where the water leaves. Most bathtubs have showers in them, but a standing shower  is in a smaller space by itself (without a bathtub).
• Towel — People use towels to dry themselves off after taking a shower or a bath. There are also hand towels, which are smaller, and a bath mat —a towel or small rug you put on the floor to stand on.
• Robes — Some hotels provide robes for guests to wear after they shower. They’re also called bathrobes .
• Toiletries — Toiletries are small personal items you might use in the bathroom, such as shampoo/conditioner (for washing hair), soap, a toothbrush and toothpaste. Many hotels offer free toiletries in small travel sizes.
• Hair dryer — Most hotels will have an electric hair dryer for guests to use to dry their wet hair after washing it. In standard hotels, hair dryers are attached to the walls with a cord. These are also called blow dryers .
• Sink — The sink is where people wash their hands. The faucet is where the water comes out. A guest might complain that the faucet in their bathroom is leaking  (water is dripping out when it’s turned off). 
• Soap — Soap is used to kill germs and bacteria when you wash your hands. It can be either liquid (stored in a soap dispenser) or a solid bar. Some hotels have both hand soap and body soap .
• Lamp — Lamps provide extra light somewhere in the room. Guests might tell you that a light burned out in their lamp, meaning it needs a new light bulb .
• Executive desk — Some rooms might come with a desk to sit and write or work. These are sometimes called executive desks (just a fancier name, often used in business suites).
• Kitchenette — This is a mini-kitchen where people can prepare basic food, usually with a sink and microwave . Many hotel rooms have a mini-fridge (small refrigerator) that has some beverages (drinks) and snacks inside. If guests eat the snacks and beverages, they have to pay for them when they check out.
• Coffee machine — Coffee machines in hotel rooms allow guests to make their own coffee in the morning. Guests might need more filters or coffee grounds   if they run out (use them all). 
• Curtains — These usually hang from a curtain rod to cover a window. Curtains can be pulled open or closed to let sunlight in or keep it out. In a more modern hotel room, the windows might have blinds instead.
• TV — Most rooms have a TV with a remote control (small hand-held device used to change the channel or volume). The TV remote might need new batteries from time to time. Some hotels have a listing of the local TV channels. There are also often pay-per-view channels or movies, that guests are later charged for.
• Safe — This is a small box locked with a combination or key where guests can keep valuable items locked and secure.
• Cot — This is a small bed that folds up and rolls on wheels, so it can be moved into rooms when an extra bed is needed.
• Pull-out sofa — This is a couch that can pull out into a sofa bed.
• Armchair — This is a more comfortable chair with rests for both of your arms.
• Linens — These are cloths such as sheets on the bed, pillowcases to cover the pillows, a blanket to keep warm or a comforter (the thick blanket on top of a bed). Sheets have a thread count , which tells their quality/smoothness.
• Iron and ironing board — When clothes are wrinkled, guests can get rid of the wrinkles by using an iron with an ironing board.
• Private jacuzzi — This is a hot tub somewhere inside or attached to the room. “Private” is the opposite of “public,” and means that this jacuzzi is just for the people in that room.

• Turndown service — This is a service that has housekeepers go into the room and remake the beds. They might put a mint or chocolate on the pillow to show the bed has been “turned down.”
• Bar — Here’s where you can order drinks and sometimes food. Some hotels have their own restaurant  where guests can order full meals.
• Brochures — These are small pieces of paper that advertise local attractions such as water parks and museums.
• Airport shuttle — Some hotels have shuttles or large vans that give guests free rides to and from the nearest airport.
• Parking — Guests will want to know if there’s a parking lot where they can park their car, and whether or not it’s free. Fancy hotels might have valet parking , where guests drive up and get out of the car, and a hotel worker parks it for them.
• Continental breakfast — This is a light breakfast, usually included with the cost of the room, and served in a common area like a dining room.
• Room service — This is a service that lets guests order food or drinks and have it delivered to their hotel room.
• Catering — Some hotels offer catering services, meaning they can be hired to cook and serve food for events.
• Buffet — A buffet consists of many different kinds of food, and guests serve themselves. For example, your hotel might offer a breakfast buffet or a dinner buffet .
• High chairs — Family-friendly hotels will have these for toddlers (very young children) to sit at tables. Booster seats are set on top of chairs/benches so younger children can sit higher up and reach their plates easier.
• Ice machine — This is a machine where guests can get ice to use as they need. They’re usually in the hallways on each floor.
• Vending machine — These are machines where guests can purchase candy, snacks or beverages with coins.
• Wheelchair accessible — This means that people in wheelchairs can get around the hotel, usually with elevators  and ramps  (inclined/tilted ground instead of stairs).
• Fitness/workout room — This might also be called a gym , and is a place for guests to exercise. There might be treadmills or free   weights  in the room.
• Swimming pool — This is a place for guests to swim, and could be indoor (inside the hotel building) or outdoor  (outside).
• Jacuzzi /  whirlpool /  hot tub — This is a small, very hot “pool” of water with bubbles or “jets” that adults sit in to relax.
• Spa — A spa for relaxation might offer massages or a sauna (a small room filled with hot steam).
• Laundry — Hotels might offer laundry service, meaning they will wash guests’ clothes (for a fee). There could also be coin-operated   laundry machines, where guests can wash their clothes themselves by putting coins into the machines.
• Dry cleaning — This service cleans clothes that can’t be washed. They’re marked as dry clean only .
• Business center — This is a place where guests might be able to use computers, make telephone calls, send faxes or make photocopies.
• Pets allowed/pet-friendly — This means that pets are allowed in the hotel. If pets are not allowed, most hotels will still allow service animals (used to help people with disabilities).
• Ski storage — Hotels near ski resorts might offer a room or place for guests to safely store their ski equipment.

• Main entrance — These are the principal (main) doors to enter the hotel.
• Reception — This is where guests are greeted, which comes from the verb “to receive.” It’s often called the front desk .
• Lobby — This is an area shared by all guests of the hotel, usually on the ground floor near reception. It’s a common meeting place so there are often chairs/sofas and a bathroom.
• Banquet / meeting room — This is a large room used for big events, such as conferences or weddings.
• Elevator — This is a small space that raises and lowers guests between floors once the doors close and they press a button. It’s called a lift  in British English.
• Stairs / stairway —   These are steps so guests can walk up to higher floors in the hotel, or down to lower floors. In an emergency, everyone should use stairs instead of elevators.
• Hall(way) — This is a long passageway with doors on either side, which open into rooms. It’s also called a corridor .
• Emergency exit — In case of a fire or another emergency, some doors will be marked “emergency exit,” which lets you leave (exit) the hotel quickly.

• Manager — The manager is in charge of many people who work in hotels. Guests don’t usually interact with the manager unless there’s a serious problem.
• Receptionist — This person is found at the front desk/reception. They answer the phones and greet the guests.
• Concierge — A concierge helps guests with needs such as arranging travel, booking local tours, calling taxis, etc. In this well-known scene from the movie “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” you’ll hear the line, “This is the concierge, sir!”
• Bellboy / bellhop / porter — These are all names for the person who helps guests carry their suitcases/luggage up to the room.
• Housekeeping / housekeeper — These are the people who clean the hotel and its rooms. If guests don’t want housekeeping to come into their rooms to clean, they can put a small sign that says “Do not disturb” on the doorknob of their hotel room. 
• Tip — This is a small amount of money (in cash) given to bellboys or left in the room for housekeepers at the end of your stay to thank them for their service.
• Uniform — Most hotels will require workers to wear special, matching clothes called a uniform.
• Staff meeting — This is when staff meets at a specific time and place to talk about work topics.

• Booking a room — This is the same thing as reserving a room.
• Making a reservation — Guests will ask to make a reservation (book a room) when they’d like to stay at the hotel.
• Vacancy — This means there are still rooms available in the hotel. Hotels might have a “Vacancy” sign to show they’re accepting new guests or a “No Vacancy” sign when they’re full.
• Credit card — Most hotels will ask for the guest’s credit card number to reserve the room. They may also need to provide the card’s expiration date and security code (the three digits on the back of card).
• Conference / convention — Often hotels host conferences or conventions, which are large meetings a day or several days long with people from all over the state, country or even world. Conferences usually include a banquet (a formal evening meal with speeches).
• Wedding party — When people get married and their guests travel for the wedding, they can usually reserve many rooms for a special deal (lower price). When the wedding guests call the hotel, they should mention that they’re with the [Names] wedding party to get the lower price (and be put in the correct room).

• Check-in / check-out — When guests arrive at the hotel, they check in to get their room key. On their last morning, they check out to pay their bill.
• Key card — Most hotels use key cards (that look like credit cards) instead of an actual key to get into the room. Sometimes the magnetic strip on the card gets damaged or deactivated so that it won’t open the door correctly and needs to be replaced.
• Deposit — This is money that is paid before guests actually stay in the hotel. It’s often used to reserve (hold/save) their place, and there are policies (rules) about what happens to the money if they cancel their reservation.
• Room number — Guests need to know the number of the room where they’re staying. The first number often corresponds to the floor where the room is (for example, room 208 is usually on the second floor). 
• Morning call / wake-up call — At many hotels, guests can ask that hotel staff call them at a certain time to wake them up, instead of relying on an alarm clock.
• Noise complaint — A noise complaint is when a guest tells the hotel reception that the guests in a room near theirs are being too loud or noisy. You may have to deal with this and ask the noisy guests to be quieter.

• Invoice — This is a piece of paper with a guest’s total charges (expenses) that they need to pay when they check out.
• Tax — One line on the invoice will be for tax, a percent of the total expenses that goes to the local/national government. In the United States, the state tax rate is different from state to state.
• Damage charge — If guests break or ruin something in the room, they might need to pay a damage charge. If a deposit  was made, this type of expense might be paid for from the deposit.
• Late charge — If guests check out later than the check-out time, they could have to pay a late charge.
• Signature — Sometimes guests need to sign their name on an invoice or credit card receipt. Ask for their signature.
• Customer satisfaction — If guests had a great stay and were happy with the service, they are satisfied customers  with high customer satisfaction.

You can use hotel websites or travel booking sites like Expedia or  Booking.com to learn new words through this fun game. In a scavenger hunt, you have a list of things that you have to find within a certain time.

But in this version, you don’t have to go anywhere. Just print out this post and search for the words from the list on hotel websites. When you find a word, mark it on the list and read the sentence or section it’s in to understand its meaning.

Challenge yourself by setting a timer and see how many words you can find in five minutes. Keep practicing until you find all the words!

You can learn new vocabulary and practice your pronunciation and listening skills by watching authentic English media. Here are some ideas to get started:

• Travel vloggers. These “video bloggers” often talk about the hotels they’ve stayed at, restaurants, local attractions and other travel-related subjects—topics you’ll likely discuss with hotel guests. For example, check out the videos by Jessica Olivia Travels or ViaTravelers.
• Comedy skits. There are a few funny Saturday Night Live skits set in hotels like this one about checking in  and this one about checking out . They make fun of (joke about) how these processes can sometimes take longer than the guest may prefer.
• Movies and TV Series. Try watching movies or TV shows that take place in a hotel. The Wes Anderson film “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and the hugely popular TV series “The White Lotus” on HBO are two great options.

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.

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By learning these essential hotel vocabulary words, you’ll be able to deliver excellent guest experiences and communicate clearly at work.

Try to memorize a few terms each day and you’ll soon have them all down! 

If you like learning English through movies and online media, you should also check out FluentU. FluentU lets you learn English from popular talk shows, catchy music videos and funny commercials , as you can see here:

If you want to watch it, the FluentU app has probably got it.

The FluentU app and website makes it really easy to watch English videos. There are captions that are interactive. That means you can tap on any word to see an image, definition, and useful examples.

FluentU lets you learn engaging content with world famous celebrities.

For example, when you tap on the word "searching," you see this:

FluentU lets you tap to look up any word.

Learn all the vocabulary in any video with quizzes. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning.

FluentU helps you learn fast with useful questions and multiple examples. Learn more.

The best part? FluentU remembers the vocabulary that you’re learning. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You have a truly personalized experience.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

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Hotel Terms Glossary

Hotel terms and acronyms can be confusing, especially for employees who are new to the industry. HelloShift hotel industry glossary guarantees smooth daily operations, great guest experiences, and maximized property revenue.

ADR (Average Daily Rate)

The Average Daily Rate (ADR) is a crucial Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for hotels, reflecting the average revenue earned per occupied room each night, calculated by dividing total room revenue by the number of occupied rooms. It's a vital measure for evaluating a hotel's pricing strategy, occupancy levels, and financial health, where a higher ADR suggests the ability to command more for rooms, while a lower ADR might indicate occupancy challenges.

Read more about ADR (Average Daily Rate)

ALOS (Average Length of Stay)

The Average Length of Stay measures the typical duration guests spend at a property. This metric is essential for understanding guest behavior and managing hotel operations effectively. Longer average stays often indicate guest satisfaction and can reduce operational costs like housekeeping and booking processing. Hotels use ALOS data to tailor services, forecast demand, and allocate resources.

Read more about ALOS (Average Length of Stay)

ARPAR (Adjusted Revenue per Available Room)

Adjusted Revenue per Available Room provides a more nuanced understanding of a hotel's financial performance than traditional metrics. It accounts for both the revenue and costs associated with maintaining available rooms. The measure helps hoteliers assess their operational efficiency, identify areas for cost reduction, and optimize their pricing strategies for maximum profitability.

Read more about ARPAR (Adjusted Revenue per Available Room)

ARI (Availability Rate Index)

Availability Rate Index is a critical metric for competitive analysis in the hotel industry. It compares a hotel's room availability against its competitors, offering insights into market positioning and demand. A high ARI suggests better availability relative to competitors, which can be a strategic advantage during peak seasons. Hotels monitor ARI to adjust their inventory strategies, ensuring they capitalize on market opportunities and maintain a competitive edge.

Read more about ARI (Availability Rate Index)

BAR (Best Available Rate)

Best Available Rate is a dynamic pricing strategy hotels use to offer the lowest possible rate for a room at any given time. This rate fluctuates based on demand, occupancy, and other market factors, ensuring competitiveness and maximizing revenue. BAR is essential for guests seeking the best deals and for hotels aiming to balance occupancy rates with profitable pricing. It also serves as a benchmark for discounts and special offers.

Read more about BAR (Best Available Rate)

BEO (Banquet Event Order)

A Banquet Event Order is a comprehensive document that outlines the specifics of events hosted at a hotel, like conferences or weddings. It details every aspect, from room setups to catering requirements, ensuring smooth execution. BEOs are crucial for coordinating between various hotel departments and providing clear instructions to staff. They play a key role in event planning, helping hotels deliver successful events and enhance guest satisfaction.

Read more about BEO (Banquet Event Order)

CPOR (Cost per Occupied Room)

Cost per Occupied Room is essential for evaluating a hotel's operational efficiency. It calculates the average cost incurred for each occupied room, encompassing expenses like housekeeping, utilities, and amenities. By understanding CPOR, hotels can identify areas where costs can be reduced without compromising guest experience. Effective management of CPOR is crucial for maximizing profitability and maintaining competitive pricing.

Read more about CPOR (Cost per Occupied Room)

CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score)

Customer Satisfaction Score is a key performance indicator in the hospitality industry, measuring guests' satisfaction with their hotel experience. This score is usually obtained through post-stay surveys and feedback forms. High CSAT scores indicate satisfied guests, which can lead to repeat visits and positive word-of-mouth. Hotels use CSAT data to improve service quality, address any issues, and enhance overall guest experience.

Read more about CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score)

Forecast Accuracy

Forecast Accuracy in the hotel industry refers to the precision with which hotels predict future demand, occupancy rates, and revenue. Accurate forecasting is crucial for effective revenue management, allowing hotels to optimize pricing, manage inventory, and allocate resources efficiently. Improved forecast accuracy leads to better decision-making, reduced overbooking, and maximized revenue opportunities.

Read more about Forecast Accuracy

GDS (Global Distribution System)

Global Distribution System is vital for hotels to distribute their inventory and rates globally to travel agencies and corporate clients. It acts as a centralized reservation system, connecting hotels with a vast network of travel agents. Utilizing GDS effectively increases a hotel's visibility, broadens its market reach, and drives bookings, especially from business travelers and international guests.

GOPPAR (Gross Operating Profit Per Available Room)

Gross Operating Profit per Available Room is a key performance indicator used in the hospitality industry to measure a hotel's financial performance. It is calculated by dividing the gross operating profit by the number of available rooms. GOPPAR provides a comprehensive view of a hotel's profitability by taking into account both revenue and expenses. It helps hoteliers assess the overall financial health of their property and make informed decisions to improve profitability.

Read more about GOPPAR (Gross Operating Profit Per Available Room)

LOS (Length of Stay)

Length of Stay is a key metric that represents the average duration of guests' stays at a hotel. It's crucial for revenue management and operational planning. A longer LOS can lead to reduced operational costs and increased guest satisfaction, while a shorter LOS may indicate a need for improved guest services or amenities. Understanding LOS helps hotels optimize room pricing, manage inventory, and tailor guest experiences.

Read more about LOS (Length of Stay)

MPI (Market Penetration Index)

Market Penetration Index is an important benchmark in the hotel industry, measuring a hotel's market share relative to its competitors. It compares the hotel's occupancy rate to the average in the market, providing insights into its competitive position. A high MPI indicates a strong market presence, while a low MPI may suggest areas for improvement in marketing or guest services. Hotels use MPI to evaluate their marketing effectiveness and adjust strategies accordingly.

Read more about MPI (Market Penetration Index)

NOI (Net Operating Income)

Net Operating Income represents the total income generated by a hotel after deducting operating expenses. This figure is crucial for assessing a hotel's financial health, guiding investment decisions, and evaluating the efficiency of management. NOI is a key metric for investors and hotel owners, reflecting the property's profitability and potential for long-term success.

Read more about NOI (Net Operating Income)

NPS (Net Promoter Score)

Net Promoter Score is a widely used metric in the hospitality industry to measure guest loyalty and satisfaction. It's calculated based on guests' likelihood to recommend the hotel to others. A high NPS indicates strong customer loyalty and satisfaction, essential for repeat business and positive word-of-mouth. Hotels use NPS to evaluate their service quality, identify areas for improvement, and strategize on enhancing guest experiences.

Read more about NPS (Net Promoter Score)

Occupancy Rate

Occupancy Rate is a critical metric for hotels, indicating the percentage of available rooms that are occupied at any given time. It's a key indicator of demand, influencing pricing strategies and revenue management. High occupancy rates suggest strong demand and potential for revenue maximization, while lower rates indicate a need for promotional efforts or market repositioning. Understanding occupancy trends helps hotels optimize their rates and manage inventory effectively.

Read more about Occupancy Rate

OTA (Online Travel Agency)

Online Travel Agency platforms have transformed hotel bookings, offering guests a convenient way to compare prices and book rooms. For hotels, OTAs provide a broader reach to potential customers but often at the cost of higher commission fees. Navigating the relationship with OTAs is crucial for hotels, balancing direct bookings with the extensive exposure these platforms provide.

Read more about OTA (Online Travel Agency)

Overbooking

Hotel overbooking is a calculated strategy employed by hoteliers to optimize occupancy and increase revenue by selling more rooms than available, anticipating cancellations and no-shows. This approach relies on analyzing historical data, cancellation rates, and demand trends to minimize the risk of guest inconvenience. In instances where demand surpasses availability, hotels prepare by arranging alternative accommodations, offering compensations or perks to affected guests. The success of this strategy hinges on effective communication and exemplary customer service, aiming to maintain guest satisfaction and capitalize on every booking opportunity, turning potential overbooking challenges into a seamless experience for both the hotel and its guests.

Read more about Overbooking

PMS (Property Management System)

Property Management System is an essential software used in hotel management, streamlining various operational aspects from reservations to guest services. A robust PMS integrates different functions like booking, billing, and reporting, improving efficiency and guest experience. By leveraging PMS, hotels can enhance operational accuracy, reduce manual errors, and offer seamless service to guests.

Read more about PMS (Property Management System)

RevPAC (Revenue per Available Customer)

Revenue per Available Customer is a metric used in the hotel industry to measure the revenue generated from each guest. Unlike room-centric metrics, RevPAC focuses on the overall spending of a guest, including amenities, dining, and other services. This metric helps hotels understand guest spending patterns and identify opportunities to enhance ancillary revenues, which is crucial for comprehensive revenue management strategies.

Read more about RevPAC (Revenue per Available Customer)

RevPAR (Revenue per Available Room)

Revenue per Available Room is a cornerstone metric in hotel revenue management, combining occupancy and average room rates to provide a snapshot of a hotel's financial performance. It's vital for assessing how well a hotel is filling its rooms and at what price. High RevPAR indicates strong demand and effective pricing strategies, while lower RevPAR might signal a need for adjustments in marketing or pricing.

Read more about RevPAR (Revenue per Available Room)

RevPASH (Revenue per Available Seat Hour)

Revenue per Available Seat Hour is a key metric for hotel restaurants, measuring revenue generated per seat per hour. It's essential for evaluating the efficiency and profitability of a hotel's dining facilities. Understanding RevPASH allows hotel managers to optimize menu pricing, seating arrangements, and operational hours to maximize restaurant revenues and enhance guest dining experiences.

Read more about RevPASH (Revenue per Available Seat Hour)

RevPOR (Revenue per Occupied Room)

Revenue per Occupied Room goes beyond basic room rates, including all revenue generated by an occupied room, such as room service, laundry, and other amenities. This metric provides a more comprehensive view of a guest's value to the hotel. By analyzing RevPOR, hotels can identify successful upselling strategies and areas for potential revenue growth, enhancing overall financial performance.

Read more about RevPOR (Revenue per Occupied Room)

RGI (Revenue Generation Index)

The Revenue Generation Index is a valuable metric for hotels to benchmark their revenue performance against competitors or the broader market. It's calculated by dividing a hotel's RevPAR by the market's average RevPAR. An RGI above 1 indicates that a hotel outperforms its competitive set, while an RGI below 1 suggests underperformance. Hotels use RGI to assess their market position and strategize on ways to enhance their competitive edge and revenue generation.

Read more about RGI (Revenue Generation Index)

STR (Smith Travel Research)

Smith Travel Research provides critical market data and benchmarking tools for the hotel industry. STR's reports and analytics are indispensable for understanding market trends, competitor performance, and demand fluctuations. Hotels rely on STR data for informed decision-making, from setting room rates to developing marketing strategies, ensuring they stay aligned with industry dynamics and customer expectations.

Read more about STR (Smith Travel Research)

TRevPAR (Total Revenue per Available Room)

Total Revenue per Available Room offers a comprehensive view of a hotel's revenue, encompassing not just room sales but all revenue sources, including dining, spa services, and other amenities. This metric provides a holistic picture of a property's financial performance. By focusing on TRevPAR, hotels can identify opportunities to enhance overall revenue, going beyond traditional room-centric metrics and tapping into all potential income streams.

Read more about TRevPAR (Total Revenue per Available Room)

Upsell Rate

The Upsell Rate refers to the success rate at which hotel staff can sell upgraded rooms or additional services to guests. Effective upselling strategies contribute significantly to a hotel's revenue, enhancing guest experience with superior services or room features. Tracking the upsell rate helps hotels understand the effectiveness of their sales techniques and staff training, aiming to both increase revenue and improve guest satisfaction.

Walk-in guests are those who arrive at the hotel without a prior reservation. These guests can be a valuable source of revenue, especially during off-peak times when occupancy rates are lower. Hotels need to manage walk-in guests efficiently, ensuring rooms are available for them without overbooking. Providing excellent service to walk-ins can also lead to positive reviews and repeat business.

Yield Management

Yield Management is a strategic approach in the hotel industry to maximize revenue. This technique involves adjusting prices based on the expected room demand and optimizing room rates and occupancy levels. It's crucial for hotels to master yield management to capitalize on high-demand periods while filling rooms during slower times. This dynamic pricing strategy is essential for maximizing revenue and ensuring a steady flow of guests.

Learn Hotel Industry Jargon Today

Understanding the nuances of hotel terminology and industry jargon is essential to stay afloat in the hospitality sector. Even with advanced tools like HelloShift simplifying hotel operations, a comprehensive grasp of key terms remains vital.

Our hotel glossary serves as a bridge, connecting the dots between sophisticated management systems and the fundamental language of the hospitality world. It's a resource that empowers industry professionals - from front desk staff to property owners - with the clarity needed to maximize the benefits of technological solutions.

Embracing both the intricacies of hotel terms explained, and the efficiency of platforms like HelloShift ensures a smooth, guest-focused, and proficient management experience in the dynamic world of accommodation and hospitality.

“ With HelloShift we have seen an almost immediate improvement in the amount and efficiency of communication between all departments. It allows us to complete guest requests very quickly and ensures that the entire staff can keep up with the status of those requests. HelloShift has revolutionized the old school communications log and paper request system. Our hotels will never look back. ” Pranav Patel, VP Operations & Co-founder, TNJ Management

HelloShift is cloud-based and works across web, iOS, & Android apps.

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The A to Z of the tourism industry

Let’s be honest. We’ve all been in that scenario where you find yourself stumped with a travel acronym that you can’t quite remember! We don’t blame you for feeling frustrated by it all… travel is a complex industry and understanding (and remembering!) all of the jargon, terminology and acronyms can sometimes feel like you are learning an entirely new language.

Lucky for you, we’re making things a bit easier. Drawing from our team’s experience through creating travel software, and decades working as travel professionals ourselves we wanted to share the knowledge and create your very own Tour Operator Software glossary. 

Bookmark it for times of need, skim over it to get refreshed, or share it with your industry friends and colleagues.

Adventure Tourism

The adventure tourism industry has developed for those thrill-seekers looking for a holiday jam-packed full of activities. From whitewater rafting to dog sledging to glacier exploration, Adventure Tourism isn’t for the faint-hearted.

Average Daily Rate (ADR)

The ADR is used to track performance and measures the average income for each paid room over a certain time period. 

Business Development Manager (BDM)

As a tour operator, travel agent or DMC , you are most likely going to be working closely with a Business Development Manager (BDM). These are the sales representatives for suppliers, therefore a good relationship with the BDM is likely to serve your business well!

Blackout Dates

There are often dates when particularly awesome promotions or sales don’t apply. This is usually because of holiday periods or big events where suppliers anticipate that there is going to be an increased demand during that time.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Nowadays, CRM software is used by almost every organisation, both in and outside the travel industry. At its simplest form, a CRM allows you to store contact details of your customers and prospective customers. More complex CRM’s allow you to keep track of customers food allergies to pet names (and everything in between). Learn how to get the most out of your CRM here

Once upon a time, data would be stored on a local computer. However, the birth of Cloud computing means that platforms are able to store their information on remote servers. Meaning you can access your online information from any device at any time.

Cross season pricing

With the change of season often a change in pricing also comes for many tour operators. Tour operators may adjust their pricing in either direction to accommodate the decrease or increase in business during these times – See Low Season Travel. 

Destination Management Company (DMC)

Known for their deep local knowledge, DMC’s are organisations that specialise in offering tours, logistics, and planning services for a particular destination. Often known for re-selling their services to tour operators.

This one is just what it sounds like; how long someone ‘dwells’ or stays in a certain place. It’s relevant to the tourism industry as it refers to the amount of time a customer spends at a certain activity or accommodation – this is useful to know when planning and creating tailor-made itineraries. 

Demand-Based Pricing

Pricing does not have to stay the same all the time, it can fluctuate based on the amount of people interested in a product of service. In the tourism industry, this pricing model is commonly used and operates under the same principle as Cross-Seasonal Pricing above. As a tour operator, this may affect your own pricing or the pricing of the suppliers you use.

As more people and businesses are becoming aware of the environmental impact that travel can have, the niche market of ecotourism is developing. This type of tourism works to ensure that environmental impacts are minimised at every opportunity and is driven by both the tourist and the tourism industry. Learn more about ecotourism and sustainable travel here.

Also known as Electronic Commerce or EC, this is any form of commercial transactions conducted via the internet. For example, your customers might book and pay for their tour online, using e-commerce platforms.

Free Independent Travellers (FIT)

This is a bit of a contentious one, we found 6 slightly different definitions in our search alone! Regardless of whether the F stands for Free, Foreign or Fully, the underlying definition is the same: FIT’s are people who shy away from mass tourism and want to travel with people they know. They want a tailor made itinerary created based on their unique needs, passions and interests. They do not travel with group tours or by a schedule imposed by others. 

Fragmentation

Globalisation has meant that travellers are able to shop around for the cheapest rate and source their trip from multiple different suppliers. Read more about travel industry fragmentation here .

Far from researching everything that there is to know about every destination in the world, travel agents often go on famils. This is a scouting trip; to be able to give some insider knowledge about the destinations they are sending their customers to. Famils are also often organised and paid for by airlines or suppliers in an effort to encourage you to promote their offering.

This is the final rate that your customers pay for your service, ie. the cost plus your commission.

Hotels will sometimes offer a discounted rate for hotel rooms if you book more than 5 rooms at a time.

Group Tour/GIT

Also known as Group Incentive Tour (GIT), packaged trips or escorted tours, a group tour has a set date, price and itinerary. The itinerary may include portions of free time with optional activities to choose from but the travellers are limited to what the tour offers. The group is made up of a variety of travellers.

Heritage Sites

The UNESCO World Heritage Sites are popular tourist destinations listed by UNESCO as having cultural or environmental significance.

Inbound Tour Operator

A tour operator based in a specific destination country who plans itineraries and organises travel arrangements or conducts tours for travellers based elsewhere.

Travellers often want to stop over in a transit country to refresh when taking long-haul flights. The second flight of their journey may be with a different airline that fits in with their travel times and needs. The Joint Fare is the fare for both of these flights combined.

Carrier Confirmed. An abbreviation used when booking airline tickets.

Low Season Travel

Also called off-peak travel, certain destinations are less popular during different times of the year (think of a tropical island in the middle of the rainy season). Often, rates also drop during these times – see cross season pricing

Luxury Tour Operator

These tour operators work with often high net worth customers who are looking for a luxury holiday for them or their family. Their travel plans may include private yachts, helicopters or exclusive, VIP experiences – the sky’s the limit.

A supplier may increase their rate at a time in which there is a higher demand for their offering. For example, flights and accommodation in a popular destination will increase during school breaks where there are lots of families travelling.

Market Segment

Identifying a market segment is an ideal way to make sure that your offering is being marketed to and attracting the right type of customers. This is especially important for niche tour operators who may specialise in adventure tourism in Canada for under 30’s for example.

The price of the flights, accommodation etc without the agent’s commission added.

Online Booking System

An easy way for customers to book (or reserve) an offering online and receive confirmation without having to go through an agent.

Outbound Tour Operator

The opposite of an Inbound Tour Operator , an Outbound Tour Operator or OTO typically offers trips to a variety of destinations, some or all of which are not in the country that the tour operator is based in.

Online Travel Agency (OTA)

An online travel agency is a web-based marketplace where people can go to research, plan and book travel products or services. For many tour operators working with or listing their products or services on an OTA allows them to be seen by a wider audience.   

Pax is travel industry jargon that refers to the number of passengers ie. 2 pax. It also extends to the number of guests, diners or participants.

An easy and popular way to travel is by buying packages. These often include accommodation, travel and some meals. 

Peak Season

Peak season, also known as the high season, is the time of the year when most people are travelling to or around a destination. This means that travellers will experience bigger crowds and higher costs. Pre-booking activities or experiences well in advance may also be required to ensure travellers can do what they want to at the destination during the peak season.

Also known as a proposal, it is a document that details the planned itinerary and the costs associated with the trip. It is usually supplied by a tour operator or travel agency based on a discussion about what the traveller wants. By providing a quotation it makes it easier to compare details before selecting the ideal trip for themselves.

A company who resells and markets tours and activities for a specific destination, country, region or specialisation.

Although not specifically related to travel, Search Engine Optimisation is an aspect of digital marketing that is crucial for travel businesses in this day and age. SEO refers to the way that you can make sure your website ranks highly in organic search results – increasing your visibility. Read more about how to make sure your website is serving you well here .

You may have been to a website where an alert popped up notifying you that the website was not secure – not a great first impression, right? The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is the standard way to reassure your customers that your site is safe, by creating an encrypted link between your browser and the server. Read more about the importance of SSL certification here .

Single Supplement

A single supplement is a surcharge applied to a single person staying in a room usually intended for two or more people. The surcharge usually applies when a room is charged per person and is essentially to cover the cost of only receiving a single payment for a room that they usually get two payments for.

Travel/Trade Association

Travel associations and communities exist to service those in the travel industry who wish to network with, collaborate and be supported by others in the industry. These associations can be niche or broad and often provide fantastic resources and support to help your business thrive! There are a lot out there but don’t worry, we’ve got the down-low on travel associations and luxury travel communities for you.

TTL (Ticket Time Limit)

This is the time limit that businesses (often airlines) give for a ticket to be purchased to avoid cancellations or expiration of the fare.

Target Market

Unfortunately, no one can please everyone. That’s why when you are marketing your tour operator business, it pays to think about who your target market is – the demographic or type of people you expect to be most interested in your offering. Specialise your business offering to this target market to get more joy from your marketing efforts.

This is a payment method used mainly in China, however, Union Pay is also becoming increasingly available and accepted internationally, opening doors for many Chinese tourists to use this payment method during their travels.

From production to consumption, Value Added Tax may be added to products or services each time they are bought or resold for a profit. Also known as goods and services tax, VAT may apply when tours or activities are resold by a wholesaler. 

Waitlist (WL)

Travellers may wish to buy waitlisted tickets in order to save costs. This means that they are placed on a list and will wait to take the place of someone who cancels or doesn’t show up.

WTM (The World Travel Market)

The World Travel Market is a leading event in the travel industry, bringing together all areas of tourism and facilitating business connections and growth.

XE.com currency conversion

Currency conversion is the difference in value between two countries’ money. Determining what currency you need and the rate of exchange easily is helpful when travelling between countries.  XE.com is the leading currency conversion website with 20 years of experience in the industry.

Yield Management

The yield of your offering is the average revenue per unit of sale eg. revenue per 1 person’s airline ticket. Yield management involves understanding the times in which your offering is in higher demand and identifying the type of people who would purchase your offering. You can then calculate and manage your anticipated yield to maximise profit!

You may have seen pictures before of adrenalin-junkie tourists hurtling down a hill in a blow-up ball. These balls are called Zorbs and it might seem mad but it’s a massively popular adventure tourism activity. 

Relating to the rise of ecotourism , some areas are prone to the pressures of tourism and are zoned as such. These zoned areas sometimes limit the number of people allowed at one time, or simply notify tourists about their environmental impact and monitor the damage.

How does the travel industry actually work?

Who are the key players in the industry, where do they all fit together and how does the industry actually work?! There’s no doubt that the travel industry is a confusing space to wrap your head around so we’ve broken it down for you in this easy new resource.

Travel designers- meet the influencers you should work with.

Understand the role travel influencers play in the industry and why tour operators should be following, interacting and collaborating with them. Explore eight global travel influencers who are inspiring travellers daily.

Tourism news websites you can trust

In the tourism industry it can be hard to differentiate the reliable travel news sources from the not-so-trustworthy ones. In this blog we summarise the top travel news websites that tour operators, travel agencies and DMC’s should pay attention to.

How to set your team up for success when introducing new software

Making changes happen is hard. Especially when it is something that will create a significant impact on the way you work, like new software. We discover what change management is and how it can assist you, your leaders and your team in creating new processes that will make you more successful in the long run. Is it time for a change?

The Hospitality Dictionary: Guide To Hotel Terms, Acronyms & A bbreviations

Acronyms, abbreviations, and specific terms are very common within the hospitality industry. The hospitality industry is vast and is made up of 4 different sectors (food and beverage, travel and tourism, lodging, entertainment, and recreation). Within these sectors are an array of terms, acronyms & abbreviations that will be used frequently which can be overwhelming for people just starting their career in this industry.

Below we have compiled a list of common hospitality terms and acronyms/abbreviations and lingo to help you better understand the industry.

Note: To help you utilise this guide to its fullest, use the search function (CTRL + F on Windows Desktop or use the "Find In Page" function on mobile) to find the exact term and acronym you need.

Hotel A bbreviations & Acronyms List

Along with hospitality abbreviations, there are many hospitality terms and definitions you may not know the meaning of. Here is a list of common hospitality terms and definitions to help you thrive in this wonderful industry.

Hospitality Terms & Definitions

Now you know the most common hotel terms and acronyms.

We hope this hotel dictionary has been helpful to you. Bookmark this guide to help you recognise and understand common hotel terms as you chat and interact with people within the hospitality industry.

If you think we’ve missed any common terms, do let us know and we’ll happily add them to this evergrowing list.

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• Travel Terms Glossary

We have provided a glossary for your use.  The travel industry is replete with jargon and acronyms and we hope you find this glossary/dictionary of travel terms useful when you run across a term you are not familiar with.  We encourage our clients to submit any words or concepts they would like defined or clarified to us on the Contact Us page and we will be happy to reply by email with a definition and include the term or clarification in our glossary/dictionary of travel terms for other clients benefit as well.

A la carte – referring to meals, an indication that each dish is priced separately; also that a choice of meals may be vailable, such as on a tour.

A la Carte Bar – Also known as a “Cash Bar,” a bar located within one’s hotel room that is pre-stocked with an assortment of snacks and beverages.

ABC – a reference to the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao, in the Netherlands Antilles, just off the northern coast of South America (Venezuela). Fabulous for diving, snorkeling and all manner of watersports.

Abeam – A directional term, used on ships and aircraft, which describes something off to the side of the vessel, such as the wings.

Accessible Tourism – Travel that ensures that there is high availability in destinations, accommodations, attractions, products, and services to all people.

Accessible Travel – Travel that ensures that there is high availability in destinations, accommodations, attractions, products, and services to all people.

Actual Time of Arrival – Literally, the actual time of arrival. As opposed to the ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival).

Add-on – an option, usually at extra cost, added to travel arrangements.

Adjoining rooms – Two hotel or accommodation rooms that have a door connecting them from the inside, allowing the guests to combine the two rooms into one larger room.

Adoption Rate – the percentage of tickets issued through an online booking system compared to the traditional booking channel of agent-assisted reservations.

ADT – Atlantic Daylight Time; Alaska Daylight Time. Advance Purchase Fare – airfare that requires the traveler to purchase the ticket a minimum number of days prior to departure.

Advance Purchase Requirement – APR, or Advance Purchase Requirement, is the requirement that a ticket must be purchased a minimum number of days before the flight departs.

Adventure tour – A tour designed around an adventurous activity such as rafting, hiking, or mountain climbing.

Adventure travel – adventure travel is category of travel involving exploration or travel with perceived (and possibly actual) risk, and potentially requiring specialized skills and physical exertion.

Adventure Traveler – Adventure travelers travel to destinations with the specific purpose of active physical participation and exploration of new experiences.

Affinity Card – These are credit or debit cards issued by a banking institution in partnership and co-branded with a particular frequent traveler program.

Affinity group – A group of people that share a common hobby, interest, or activity, or that are united through regular participation in shared outings. Also see preformed group.

Aft – toward the rear of a ship.

After-departure charge – Charges that do not appear on the guest’s bill at checkout such as telephone or dining charges.

Agent – A person who has the power to act as the representative for another person.  Most frequently in travel, a specific kind of agent such as a travel agent.

AIO variables – Activities, interests, and opinions-used to measure and categorize customer lifestyles.

Air mile – a distance of approx. 6076 feet.

Air Traffic Control – Usually refers to the control tower at the airport, but may also be a control center somewhere else in charge of controlling a large area of sky.

Air Travel Card – a credit card sponsored by the airlines, for the purchase of air travel only.

Air Travel – air travel is the action or process of making a journey by aircraft.

Air/sea – a term referring to tickets, trips, fares, etc. that include both air and land-based travel arrangements, such as a cruise package with air included.

Aircraft – Generally speaking, any machine capable of flight. However, in the travel industry, these often mean airplanes.

Airline Alliance – These are agreements of cooperation between groups of airlines. Alliances offer airlines more flexibility and larger networks.

Airline fare – Price charged for an airline ticket. Several types of fares exist and can change with market conditions.

Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) – An organization that provides a method of approving authorized agency locations for the sale of transportation and cost-effective procedures for processing records and funds of such sales to carrier customers.

Airport access fee – a fee paid by the car rental companies to the airport authority, for the use of shuttle vehicles, etc. – usually passed on to the consumer.

Airport transfer – a transport service to/from an airport to hotel, etc., normally prepaid as part of a package tour, but available separately as well.

Air-Sea – A cruise or travel package in which one or more transportation elements are provided by air and one or more by sea. The package is usually combined with local lodging.

All Inclusive – sold for one price that includes charges and fees that are often added separately.

All-inclusive package – A tour package in which most travel elements are purchased for set price. Also called an all-expense package.

Alternative Tourism – Travel that is not conventional in nature, though that is hard to define. It can be a niche kind of tourism.

Alternative Travel – Travel that is not conventional in nature, though that is hard to define. It can be a niche kind of tourism.

Alumni tour – A tour created for customers who have previously traveled with a tour operator. Also called a reunion tour.

Ambassador – The head of a state’s diplomatic mission in another state, usually with offices inside the main embassy.

Amenities – a desirable or useful feature or facility of a building or place

Amenity package – A cluster of special features, such as complimentary shore excursions, bar or boutique credit, or wine at dinner offered to clients on a given tour or cruise, usually as a bonus or extra feature. Usually used to induce clients to book through a particular travel agency or organization.

Amenity – The facilities and features of a property, usually cruise ship, airline or destination accommodation.

American plan – a hotel’s meal plan that usually includes all three meals each day.

AMEX – American Express (AX).

Amidships – toward the middle of a ship – usually the most stable part of the vessel.

Anniversary travel – a type of milestone travel celebrating a date that is remembered or celebrated because a special or notable event occurred on that date in a previous year, such as a wedding anniversary.

Antebellum – describes a building and/or period of time prior to the Civil War, such as an antebellum mansion on a cotton plantation in the southern US.

APEX – an airline term meaning “advance purchase excursion fare” – normally the least expensive fares.

Apron – The area surrounding the gate areas of a terminal, generally used for parking and maintenance of planes.

ARC – Airline Reporting Corporation- the agency that regulates ticket sales and reports to the airlines for travel agencies.

Archipelago – An archipelago is a grouping of islands, essentially. Indonesia and Japan are both archipelago countries.

ARTA – Association of Retail Travel Agents – professional trade group of travel agents only.

ASC Fee – Administrative Service Charge.  Usually it’s the same as the change fee, or the fee to exchange the ticket for future travel.

AST – Atlantic (or Alaska) Standard Time.

ASTA – American Society of Travel Agents – trade group consisting of travel agencies, travel agents, and allied members (suppliers, etc.).

ATO – Airline Ticket Office – becoming rarer these days, as carriers continue to reduce customer service.

Attractions – An item or specific interest to travelers, such as natural wonders, manmade facilities and structures, entertainment, and activities.

Autobahn – high-speed equivalent to the US interstate highway system, in Germany and a few other European countries.

Availability – The total number of seats allowed to be sold at a particular rate.

Average room rate – The total guest room revenue for a given period divided by the number of rooms occupied for the same period.

B&B – A bed and breakfast home or guest house that a proprietor has converted into accommodation(s) for the public. Each room becomes a separate unit for rent and typically breakfast and/or other meals are served as part of the fare.

Babymoon – A relaxing and romantic vacation or getaway taken by parents-to-be before their baby is born.

Back to back – A term used to describe tours operating on a consistent, continuing basis. For instance, a motor coach arriving in a city from a cross-country tour may conclude the first tour upon arrival, then transport a second group back along the same route to the origination city of the first tour.

Back-to-back ticket(ing) – an against-the-rules practice whereby an air ticket is issued round-trip with only one portion to be used. Another is then issued roundtrip, again with only one portion to be used. In effect, this amounts to using one ticket for the outbound part of a trip, and the other for the return. The normal Saturday night stay requirement is then avoided – useful only when two roundtrip tickets are less than the cost of a single ticket with no Saturday night stayover.

Baggage Allowance – The amount of baggage a passenger may transport without having to pay extra charges, determined by carrier.

Baggage handler – See porter.

Baggage master – The person who controls baggage handling on a ship.

Balcony – sometimes called a verandah – an outside “porch ” that is usually private, just outside your ship’s cabin. Great for relaxing and port arrivals!

Barge cruising – pleasure cruising along a canal system, such as in upstate New York or in Europe, in converted barges or new ships that resemble them.

Base fare – the basic price of an airline ticket, before ANY taxes, surcharges, airport fees, etc.

Base – Flight crew term for their home airport; where the flights originate from and terminate at.

Beam – a ship’s width at its widest point; determines whether or not a vessel can pass through the Panama Canal.

Bed and breakfast (B&B) – Overnight accommodations usually in a private home or boarding house, often with a full American-style or Continental breakfast included in one rate.

Bell captain – The person in charge of luggage at a hotel.

Bellboy – Also called “Bellboy” or “Bellman,” a person that is hired by the hotel to assist guests, such as with luggage, running errands, etc.

Bellman – a person who carries one’s luggage to a hotel room.

Benelux – term for the countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

Berth – usually refers to the bed in a ship’s cabin; also the space at which a ship is docked.

Bespoke tour – a tour that is customized, personalized and tailor-made for the traveler.

Biking Trips and tours – Bicycle trips and touring means self-contained cycling trips or pleasure, adventure and autonomy rather than sport, commuting or exercise. Touring can range from single to multi-day trips, getaways or vacations.

Birthday travel – a type of milestone travel celebrating a birthday, quite often marking decade birthday milestones such as 40 th , 50 th , 60 th , 70 th etc. birthdays.

Blackout dates – Specific dates in which special fares or promotions do not apply. Typically exist around holidays or special events.

Block – A number of rooms, seats, or space reserved in advance, usually by wholesalers, tour operators, or receptive operators who intend to sell them as components of tour packages.

Blocked space – seats, rooms, and/or cabins held on airlines, in hotels, or aboard ships. Usually held speculatively and made available at reduced rates.

Boarding pass – a receipt with a seat number, now issued only at check-in at the airport. A ticket is not valid unless a boarding pass has been issued. A Boarding Pass is not a ticket, but allows you to board a plane or ship or other mode of transportation.

Boarding Pass – Bonded – protected or guaranteed by a bond, usually referring to the protection of passenger’s funds.

Booking form – A document which purchasers of tours must complete to give the operator full particulars about who is buying the tour. It states exactly what is being purchased (including options) and must be signed as acknowledgment that the liability clause has been read and understood.

Boutique Hotel – A boutique hotel is a type of hotel, usually smaller and more intimate than a chain hotel, which conforms to a niche.

Bow – Bow is a directional term. Front of a ship or the nose of an aircraft; specifically, the foremost point of the hull of the craft.

Breakage – Expenses budgeted for a tour but not used or expended, thus resulting in additional profit to the tour operator. Examples include meals budgeted but not consumed, currency fluctuations in favor of the tour operator, or the tour selling to much larger numbers of passengers than expected.

Break-even point (BEP) – The point at which revenues and expenses are the same. For example, the BEP is the number of products (or seats, cabins, tickets, etc.) that must be sold for a company to break even. The BEP is calculated as fixed costs divided by the selling price less variable costs. See reasonable number.

Break-even pricing – Pricing a product based on a forecast of the break-even point and the cost of achieving the break-even point.

Bridge – the navigational center of a ship.

Bucket list destinations – Bucket list travel is a list of destinations a person wants to travel to and experience before reaching a certain age or dying.

Bulk contract – An agreement whereby an airline sells large blocks of seats at a discount for resale by a third party.

Bulk fare – A reduced fare for purchases of a large number of tickets.

Bulkhead Seat – Seats located directly behind a bulkhead wall separator. As these seats don’t have the benefit of a seatback in front of them.

Bulkhead – A partitioning wall, usually referring to one within the cabin of an aircraft, or perhaps on another mode of transportation.

Bumping – the airline practice of denying boarding to confirmed passengers who hold tickets on a specific flight, due to an oversold condition. The carrier will ask for volunteers to take later flights, and will normally provide some sort of compensation in the form of vouchers or tickets for future travel. Rules for when compensation must be provided are complicated; ask the ticket agent for a copy of that carrier’s rules, as each has their own set of guidelines.

Business class – While amenities vary based on the airline, business class generally falls between first class and coach.

Cabin – the passenger area on an aircraft; the stateroom aboard a cruise ship.

Cabin Crew – The collective group of flight attendants and the purser as a whole. The cabin crew is responsible primarily for handling the duties within the cabin.

Cabin steward – the person responsible for maintaining/cleaning the cabins aboard ship.

Cabin-(Aircraft) – The section of the aircraft in which passengers travel.

Cabin – A sleeping room on a ship.

Cancellation penalty – the monetary penalty due when travel plans are cancelled, usually after final payment has been made.

Cape – A small version of a peninsula, usually long and narrow, that juts far out into a body of water.

Captain – (Aircraft-The captain is the pilot in command (PIC), which is the person in the cockpit sitting on the left with 4 stripes on their shoulder.

Card mill – a “business “that sells potentially fake travel agent ID cards, usually in a sort of pyramid scheme, whereby the buyer intends only to partake of any legitimate agent benefits.

Carrier – generic term for any company that transports passengers and/or freight.

Carry-on – currently, there are no uniformly enforced airline restrictions concerning carry-on luggage.

Cashless cruising – a term that applies to the system of onboard payment used for most all cruises; the final bill for any such purchases is presented against a credit card or cash deposit given upon check-in. The final statement itemizes the purchases of all passengers in a cabin, such as drinks, shore tours, etc.

Casual research – A form of marketing research that is used to test cause-and-effect relationships between a marketing program and customers.

Cay – pronounced “key” – term for a small island, used primarily in the Caribbean, such as Princess Cay.

Celebrity Travel – celebrity and high net worth travel is an ultra-luxurious travel category describing the highly demanding travel requirements of celebrity and high net worth travelers characterized by the ultra-luxurious travel modalities and destinations with attention to privacy, security and confidentiality.

Certified Tour Professional (CTP) – A designation conferred upon tour professionals who have completed a prescribed course of academic study, professional service, tour employment, and evaluation requirements. The CTP program is administered by the National Tour Association (Lexington, KY) and is open to individuals employed in any segment of the tourism industry.

Certified Travel Associate – (CTA) – a travel professional certified by the Institute of Certified Travel Agents, who has passed a series of rigorous tests, assuring the traveling public of professional competence.

Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) – A designation attesting to professional competence as a travel agent. It is conferred upon travel professionals with five or more years of industry experience who compete a two-year graduate-level travel management program administered by the Institute of Certified Travel Agents (Wellesley, MA).

Certified Travel Industry Specialist (CTIS) – A designation conferred upon American Bus Association member company employees who successfully complete five correspondence courses (three) required and two electives and written evaluation of eight marketplace seminars.

Chain-ratio method – A method for forecasting market demand by multiplying a base market figure by a series of consumption constraints.

Chamber of commerce – A DMO that operates at the local level and is comprised of businesses that are not necessarily associated with the tourism industry.

Chancery – The physical building that houses an embassy and its diplomatic delegation.

Change of equipment – when a flight, with a single flight number, lands and changes the type of airplane used before continuing on to its destination.  Sometimes referred to as a change of gauge.

Charter service – The transportation of preformed groups (organized by someone other than the carrier), which have the exclusive use of the vehicle.

Charter – To hire the exclusive use of any aircraft, motorcoach, or other vehicle.

Chauffer driven tours – a chauffeur tour is a tour driven by a chauffeur employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine.

Chunnel – slang for the tunnel beneath the English Channel, from England to France, through which the Eurostar train passes.

Circle itinerary – A travel routing design that overnights in different locations and returns to the point of departure without retracing the travel route.

Circle trip – any trip that involves more than a single destination, but which returns to the initial point of departure.

City guide – A tour guide who points out and comments on the highlights of a city, usually from a motor coach or van.

City Pair – The departure and destination points of an air or rail journey.

City tour – A sightseeing trip through a city, usually lasting a half day or a full day, during which a guide points out the city’s highlights.

Class of Service – The inventory in which a passenger is booked according to the fare purchased. (E.g. a full fare coach class cabin is usually Y class of service)

CLIA – Cruise Lines International Association, located in New York City, NY.

Client list – A printout of the names of all tour participants.

Client mix – Objectives set by companies to achieve percentages of customers from different market segments.

Closed-end question – A question for which the answers are provided for the respondent, who chooses only from those answers.

Closeout – Finalization of a tour, cruise, or similar group travel project after which time no further clients are accepted. Any unsold air or hotel space is released, and final lists and payments are sent to all suppliers.

Coach – the “economy ” section of an aircraft, which may have literally scores of different fares for the same flight.

Collision damage waiver-(CDW) – Optional insurance provided by car rental companies that eliminates all responsibility of the driver in case of an accident. Car rental insurance covering any damage to a rental vehicle (CDW) many credit card companies cover their clients in this area if they use that card to pay for the rental. Check with you credit card company to see if you are covered and to what extent.

Commission – Money paid to a travel agency or ARC number by suppliers for generating bookings.

Commission cap – The limit placed on commissions paid to travel agents for the sale of air tickets, regardless of their price; designed to allow airlines to increase their profits at the expense of their primary distribution system – the travel agents.

Commissionable tour – A tour available through retail and wholesale travel agencies which provides for a payment of an agreed-upon sales commission to the retailer or wholesale seller.

Common carrier – Any person or organization that offers transportation for a fee.

Commuter – term referring to the small, regional airlines, sometimes called puddle-jumpers.

Comp policy – Arrangements for free tickets, rooms, meals, etc.

Complimentaries (comps) – Items provided free of charge, such as rooms, meals, tickets, airfare, gifts, souvenirs, etc.

Computerized reservation system (CRS) – An automated system used by travel agents that contains pricing, availability and product descriptions for hotels, car rentals, cruises, and air transportation.

Concierge – a hotel employee who provides additional advice, recommendations, and other services to guests, such as restaurant reservations. An employee of the hotel whose primary task is to serve as the liaison between the hotel and non-hotel attractions, facilities, services, and the guest.

Concierge Level – special service level normally offered at higher grade hotels that provide the guest additional amenities and information, typically at a higher rate.

Conditions – The section or clause of a transportation or tour contract that specifies what is not offered and that may spell out the circumstances under which the contract may be invalidated (in whole or in part).

Configuration – The interior arrangement of a vehicle, particularly an airplane. The same airplane, for example, may be configured for 190 coach-class passengers, or it may hold 12 first-class passengers and 170 coach passengers, or any other combination within its capacity.

Confirmed reservation – An oral or written statement by a supplier that he has received and will honor a reservation. Oral confirmation have virtually no legal weight. Even written or faxed confirmations have specified or implied limitations. For example, a hotel is usually not obliged to honor a reservation if a guest arrives after 6 p.m., unless late arrival has been guaranteed.

Confluence – A confluence, also known as a conflux, is the meeting point of two flowing bodies of water, such as streams or rivers; the place where they come together.

Conflux – A confluence, also known as a conflux, is the meeting point of two flowing bodies of water, such as streams or rivers; the place where they come together.

Connecting Flight – A flight that makes a stop at an intermediate point where travelers must change planes in order to connect to another flight to reach their destination. (I.e. San Francisco to Chicago and Chicago to New York).

Connecting room – Two rooms that are connected to each other by a door.

Consolidation – Cancellation by a charter tour operator of one more flights associated with a specific charter departure or departure period, with the transfer of passengers to another charter flight or flights to depart on or near the same day. Also, selling the same tour with identical departure dates through a number of wholesalers, cooperatives, or other outlets in order to increase sales and reduce the possibility of tour cancellations.

Consolidator – A wholesaler who purchases airline tickets in bulk and re-sells them to individuals and travel agencies at a discounted rate. These fares tend to have complex restrictions, but can be cheaper than buying direct from the airline. Consolidator fares are found to have the most savings on international flights.

Consortium – A collection of organizations made up of independently owned and managed agencies who band together to increase their buying power.

Consulate – Essentially a satellite office of the embassy, but its roles are limited in scope.

Consul – Head diplomat of the consulate.

Consumer protection plan – A plan offered by a company and/or association that protects the customer’s deposits and payments from loss in the event of company bankruptcy.

Consumer – The actual user of a product or service. See also customer.

Consumption constraints – Issues that limit the number of people in a market who will purchase a product.

Continental breakfast – At a minimum, a beverage (coffee, tea, or milk) and rolls and toast, with fruit juice sometimes included.

Continent – Large landmasses that the world is divided into, by convention, although it is generally-accepted that there are seven.

Contract – A legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties.

Control Tower – Often referred to as simply the tower, the people in the Control Tower oversee aircraft movements at the airport, including ground traffic.

Convenience sample – A collection of research subjects who are the easiest for the researcher to select.

Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) – A nonprofit DMO that operates at the county and city level. A CVB typically encourages groups to hold meetings, conventions, and trade shows in its city.

Co-op tour – Selling a tour through a number of wholesalers, cooperatives, or other outlets in order to increase sales and reduce the possibility of tour cancellations.

Cooperative (co-op) advertising – An agreement between two parties to share the cost of placing an advertisement.

Corporate agency – A travel agency that usually caters to medium-large sized businesses.

Corporate Rate – a hotel rate that is designed to appeal to the needs of the business traveler. It is not necessarily a discounted rate or the minimum rate offered by the hotel. Corporate rates normally guarantee the best available room at a fixed cost for a specific period of time, typically outlined in a contract between the hotel and company.

Corporate Travel – Corporate Travel is travel arranged by a business for business purposes. A division or department of a travel agency devoted to such travel.

Costing – The process of itemizing and calculating all the costs the tour operator will pay on a given tour.

Cost-plus pricing – See markup pricing.

Couchette – the sleeping compartment of a train that can contain up to 6 beds.

Coupon – See voucher.

Cruise Tour – A land and sea vacation, which combines a cruise with a multi-night land tour to inland destinations that the ship can’t reach.

Cruise – A cruise is a voyage on a ship or boat taken for pleasure or as a vacation and usually docking at several port destinations.

CST – Central Standard Time.

CTA – Certified Travel Associate.

CTC – Certified Travel Counselor – the ultimate in travel professionals, CTC certification can be compared to the “Master’s Degree “of the industry.

Cuisin e – a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes associated with a specific culture or geographic region.

Culinary Tourism – Culinary tourism is defined as the pursuit of unique and memorable eating and drinking experiences. By combining travel with these edible experiences, culinary tourism offers both locals and tourists alike an authentic taste of a specific culture or geographic region.

Cultural Tourism – Cultural tourism is the category or tourism concerned with a country or region’s culture, specifically the lifestyle of the people in those geographical areas, the history of those people, their art, architecture, religion(s), and other elements that helped shape their way of life.

Cultural Travel – This is travel with regard to a region’s culture and history.

Culture – Similar shared traits or characteristics unique to an ethnic group, region, or nation.

Custom tour – A travel package created specifically for a preformed group or niche market.

Customer – The buyer of a product or service. See consumer.

Customized tours – a customized tour is a tour category where an independent travel plan is designed and arranged just for the traveler’s needs, goals and desires. This type of travel includes private airport/hotel transfers, hotels, internal airfare, trains, cruises, performances, events, activities and privately guided tours.

Customs – The common term for U.S. Customs Service, the federal agency charged with collecting duty on specified items imported into the country. The agency also restricts the entry of forbidden items.

CVB – Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (generic term).

Database – A computerized, organized collection of individual customer information.

Day rate – Also called a day room. A reduced rate granted for the use of a guest room during the daytime, not overnight occupancy. Usually provided on a tour when a very late-night departure is scheduled.

Day tour – An escorted or unescorted tour that lasts less than 24 hours and usually departs and returns on the same day. See sightseeing tour.

Deadheading – Making a trip or a segment of a trip without passengers, such as driving an empty motor coach somewhere.

Debark – to get off an airplane or passenger ship.

Deck – the floor area of a ship. Some cruise liners have as many as 11 to 14 decks or more.

Deck plan – the drawing representing the location of the decks, public rooms, cabins, etc. of a cruise ship.

Demand generators – Strategies and programs developed by DMOs and suppliers to generate destination demand. Examples include festivals, events, cultural tours, and consumer promotion.

Demands – A consumer’s wants backed by the ability to purchase.

Demographics – Population measures, such as age, gender, income, education, race/ethnicity, religion, marital status, household size, and occupation.

Denied-boarding compensation – that payment and/or voucher given those bumped from a flight; may be somewhat negotiable – always ask! See “bumping”.

Department of State – the US government agency that, among other things, issues cautions and warnings concerning travel to many points worldwide. Connect to the Department of State for the latest updates for the areas you are interested in.

Departure point – The location or destination from which a tour officially begins.

Departure tax – Fee collected from a traveler by the host country at the time of departure.

Deplane -To disembark, or get off, a plane.

Deposit policy – A specified amount or a percentage of the total bill due on a specified date prior to arrival.

Deposit – An advance payment required to obtain and confirm space.

Descriptive research – a form of marketing research that is used to provide detailed answers about customer markets.

Destination alliance – A DMO that operates as a for-profit association of select suppliers who form a paid-membership network to promote their services to travelers.

Destination management company (DMC) – A for-profit company that operates similar to a CVB by providing planning and execution services for the convention and meeting market.

Destination marketing organization (DMO) – An organization that promotes a location (city, region, state province, country) as a travel destination.

Destination Weddings – a destination wedding a category of travel where couples celebrate their marriage at a destination of their choosing away from home.

Destination – The geographic place to which a traveler is going.

Dine-around-plan – A meal plan, usually prepaid, that allows one to dine at various restaurants in an area.

Direct access – Refers to a travel agent’s ability to get directly into an airlines database to get true last-seat availability and correct pricing – a big difference between internet fare ” quotes ” and an agent’s CRS ( Computer Reservations System ).

Direct Flight – A flight that goes from a traveler’s origin to their final destination with one or more intermediate stops. No change in aircraft occurs. (I.e. San Francisco to New York with a stop in Chicago)

Direct marketing – Sales and marketing communication that feature direct interaction between a company and its customers without any distribution intermediaries.

Disaster Tourism – Travel when tourists go to an area that may be or may have been affected by natural disasters, civil strife, or warfare.

Disclaimer – a legal document that advises clients that a travel agent acts only as a middleman in the sale of travel products; any liability ultimately lies with the supplier, i.e. airline, hotel, car rental company, tour operator, railway, etc.

DMC – Destination Management Company

Docent – A tour guide who works free of charge at a museum.

Domestic fare – a fare charged for travel within a country.

Double booking – a not-nice practice of holding reservations to the same destination for the same times/days, on the same carriers but through different travel agencies, when only one reservation will ultimately be used.

Double Double – A room with two double beds.

Double occupancy – the way in which almost all cruise fares and tour packages are quoted, that is, based on two people traveling together. Most hotel rooms are quoted based on two adults to a room.

Double-occupancy rate – The price per person for a room to be shared with another person; the rate most frequently quoted in tour brochures.

Double-room rate – The full price of a room for two people (twice the double-occupancy rate.)

Downgrade – To move to a lesser level of accommodations or a lower class of service.

Driver guided tours – A driver guided tour is a tour guided by an individual that operates a vehicle while providing commentary in a front-line position who leads participants (individual or groups) on tours, ensures that itineraries are followed, provides commentary in an informative and entertaining manner, and creates positive experiences for tour participants.

Driver-guide – A tour guide who does double duty by driving a vehicle while narrating.

Drop-off charge – the fee added to a car rental when the vehicle is returned to a city other than where it was originally rented. In some states, there is no drop off fee most of the time, such as in Florida.

Duty-free imports – Item amounts and categories specified by a government that are fee of tax or duty charges when brought into the country.

Early Check-In – A perk that allows a guest to check in at an earlier time than the standard check-in time.

Eco/Sustainable Tourism – Eco or Sustainable Tourism is tourism directed toward exotic, often threatened, natural environments, especially to support conservation efforts and observe wildlife.

Eco-Conscious Travel – Though often interchangeable, being “eco-conscious” literally means that one is simply aware of their environmental impact.

Eco-Friendly Travel – Though often interchangeable, being “eco-conscious” literally means that one is simply aware of their environmental impact.

Economic impact study – Research into the dollars generated by an industry and how these dollars impact the economy through direct spending and the indirect impact of additional job creation and the generation of income and tax revenue.

Ecotour – A tour designed to focus on preserving the environment, or to environmentally sensitive areas.

Ecotourism – Tourism directed at exotic and/or endangered destinations while fostering an environmental understanding and conservation.

Educational tour – A tour designed around an educational activity, such as studying art.

Elder hostel – hostel catering to seniors – see “hostel”.

Electronic ticket – a “paperless” airline ticket allowing one to check-in and fly with just proper photo ID. What may look like a ticket is actually just a paper passenger receipt. E-tickets cannot be lost, or used by anyone else, so they are safer than standard paper tickets, which may soon become extinct. One drawback is that e-tickets on one carrier cannot be honored by another, so in a cancelled-flight snafu, the original carrier must print hard copy tickets before another airline can accept them. This presents major paperwork problems for the affected carrier.

Embark – to board a plane or cruise ship.

End suite – in the hotel industry, indicates that a certain feature(s) is directly in the room, or adjacent to that room.

English breakfast – basic meal of cereal, juice, eggs, meats, and other beverages. Common with most hotels in the UK/Great Britain.

Environmental scanning – The process of monitoring important forces in the business environment for trends and changes that may impact a company.

Errors and Omissions Insurance – Insurance coverage equivalent to malpractice insurance, protecting an agent’s or operator’s staff if an act of negligence, an error, or an omission occurs that causes a client great hardship or expense.

Escort – See tour director.

Escorted group tour – A group tour that features a tour director who travels with the group throughout the trip to provide sightseeing commentary and coordinate all group movement and activities.

Escrow accounts – Funds placed in the custody of licensed financial institutions for safekeeping. Many contracts in travel require that agents and tour operators maintain customers’ deposits and prepayments in escrow accounts.

ES T – Eastern Standard Time.

Estimated Time of Arrival – Literally, the estimated time of the transport’s arrival. As opposed to the ATA (Actual Time of Arrival), the ETA is the time that the flight or transport arrives.

Estuary – A body of water connecting a flowing river and a larger body, such as a sea or ocean. Because it is the transition point.

ETA – estimated time of arrival.

ETD – estimated time of departure.

Ethnicity – A term that groups people together with a similar cultural identity; unlike terms such as nationality, ethnicity is more ambiguous.

Ethno-Tourism – Focusing on exploration of indigenous populations and their respective culture and traditions.

E-Ticket – Regarding transportation, especially on airlines, an electronic ticket, or e-ticket, is the digital version of a paper ticket, issued via email.

Eurailpass – a special fare ticket that allows either unlimited train travel, or travel for a certain number of days/weeks, in many European countries (except in Britain, where the Britrailpass offers similar travel in England, Scotland, and Wales).

European pla n – a rate at a hotel that includes no meals.

Exchange order – See voucher.

Exclusive fare – Discounted airfares offered by travel consolidators.

Excursion – a side trip from a main destination, usually at added cost and optional.

Excursion Fare – special airline fares with restrictions such as minimum and maximum stays.

Exotic Travel – Exotic travel refers to a category of travel that is strikingly, excitingly and mysteriously different or unusual.  Exotic travel is travel that is completely different than what a traveler is accustomed to and is highly subjective in nature.

Experiential Travel – Experiential travel is also known as immersion travel and is a form of tourism in which people focus on experiencing a country, city or particular place by connecting to its history, people and culture.

Exploratory research – A form of marketing research that’s used to obtain preliminary information and clues. It is most often used when the marketing problem is ambiguous.

Extension – A fully arranged sub-tour offered optionally at extra cost to buyers of a tour or cruise.

Extensions may occur before, during, or after the basic travel program.

FAM (familiarization) tour – A free or reduced-rate trip offered to travel professionals to acquaint them with what a destination, attraction, or supplier has to offer.

Familiarity Tour – A familiarity tour as used in the travel industry it is a tour of a travel destination, travel accommodation, travel activity or travel mode (airline, cruise, ground transportation) to familiarize a travel advisor and provide knowledge and direct experience with the product or service so they can better serve their clients.

Family plan – offered by most hotels, allow children to stay in the same room as parents, at no additional charge. Age requirements vary between hotels.

Family Vacation – a family vacation is a travel category referring to travel involving family members. It is also commonly referred to as multi-generational travel.

Familymoon – A neologism term used to describe a type of honeymoon a newlywed couple can make along with their children from previous relationships.

Fare Aggregator – Fare aggregators’ redirect the users to an airline, cruise, hotel, or car rental site or online travel agent for the final purchase of a ticket. Aggregators’ business models include getting feeds from major OTAs, then displaying to the users all of the results on one screen. The OTA then fulfills the ticket. Aggregators generate revenues through advertising and charging OTAs for referring clients.

Fare Basis – the letters and numbers assigned to a specific fare like an identification number.

Fare basis (code) – The code that determines the price of an airline ticket.

Final Boarding Call – Last call to board before the jet bridge closes and the flight departs, leaving late passengers stranded.

First class – The class which offers the most premium service. Enhanced seating, meal selection, and drink offerings staples of this services.

First Officer – Pilot who is second in command. The pilot in the cockpit sitting on the right with 3 stripes.

Fishing Trips and tours – a fishing trip or fishing tour is a travel tour category where groups of fisherman are provided guided tours and typically lodging with the overall purpose of catching fish.

FIT – foreign independent tour – actually used generically now for a travel package put together by a travel agent from separate components such as car, hotel and airfare, adjusted exactly as the traveler wishes. May include city tours, theater tickets, and other “independent ” options, and may also include custom mapping/routing to accomplish the client’s goals. It now is more commonly used as an acronym for Flexible Independent Travel.  It describes a type of travel or tourism that does not incorporate a packaged tour but is nonetheless customized by a travel-selling professional.

Fjord – a narrow inlet from the ocean, usually bounded by cliffs, and with spectacular scenery. Most are located in Alaska, Norway, and New Zealand.

Flight Attendant – Commonly referred to as stewards/stewardesses and air hosts/hostesses, flight attendants are available to ensure the safety and comfort of the passengers of an aircraft.

Flight Crew – Sometimes called the aircrew, the flight crew consists of everyone hired by the airlines on a flight, including pilots, pursers, and flight attendants.

Fly/drive tour – An F.I.T. package that always includes air travel and a rental car and sometimes other travel components.

Fly-drive package – a travel package featuring airfare, rental car, and perhaps hotels. Usually less expensive than booking each separately.

Folio – An itemized record of a guest’s charges and credits which is maintained in the front office until departure. Also referred to as a guest bill or guest statement.

Fore – Directional term. Towards the front of the craft, lengthwise, such as the bow of a ship or the nose of a plane. Opposite of aft.

Frequent Flier Program – A program that a traveler can enroll in that earns them rewards such as free flights on a particular airline for being a loyal customer of that airline.

Frequent Flier – One who flies frequently.

Frequent Independent travel (F.I.T.) – A custom-designed, prepaid travel package with many

Full house – A hotel with all guest rooms occupied.

Full service hotel – a hotel with restaurant facilities.

Function room – A special room that is used primarily for private parties, banquets, and meetings. Also called banquet rooms.

Funnel flight – a flight, such as on a regional or commuter carrier that “feeds “larger planes which continue on to other destinations. Also, the use of a single flight number for an itinerary that really involves a connection with two separate flight numbers, thus making the itinerary appear to be a direct flight with a change of aircraft as opposed to a connection. Just call it a connection and be done with it.

Fuselage – The aircraft’s main body section, the cylindrical, central piece that contains the cabin and holds the crew and cargo.

Galley – The kitchen/kitchenette area of a plane or train or ship. On a plane, the galley may be a small affair with a simple arrangement and a few carts.

Gate-Airport – The specific area in an airport where passengers board a plane for a flight. Gates are located in concourses.

Gateway – City, airport, or area from which a flight or tour departs.

GDS – Global Distribution Systems – A system containing information about availability, prices, and related services for Airlines, Car Companies, Hotel Companies, Rail Companies, etc. and through which reservations can be made and tickets can be issued. A GDS also makes some or all of these functions available to subscribing travel agents, booking engines, and airlines. The GDS leaders are Amadeus, Apollo/Galileo/Worldspan, Sabre.

Geotourism – this is “tourism that sustains or enhances the distinctive geographical character of a place.

Global distribution system (GDS) – An international computer reservation system that accesses many databases of suppliers, airlines, etc. in different countries, such as Sabre.

Graduation travel – graduation travel is a milestone category of travel which refers to travel celebrating a graduation typically from high school or college.

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) – solar based time in Greenwich, England, fun which time in all other time zones in the world is based.

Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) – a measurement of the enclosed space in a ship. Cruise ships in the 70,000 ton range are considered “superliners”.

Ground operator – See receptive operator.

Group – several persons, usually 10 or more, traveling together. Group travel is often available at discounted rates.

Group leader – An individual who has been given the responsibility of coordinating tour and travel arrangements for a group. The group leader may act as a liaison to a tour operator or may develop a tour independently (and sometimes serve as the tour director).

Group Rate – A negotiated rate on travel, perhaps a stay or vacation plan, that incentivizes for a large crowd or group that books together.

Group tour – A travel package for an assembly of travelers that has a common itinerary, travel date, and transportation. Group tours are usually prearranged, prepaid, and include transportation, lodging, dining, and attraction admissions. See also escorted group tour.

Group Travel – group travel refers to a category of travel with a group arranged by an outside company or organization or travel with a group of friends and family that you have organized yourself. Some groups are small, private and escorted, while others large.

GST – Goods and Services Tax, such as levied in Canadian Provinces.

Guaranteed share – a cruise term that promises that a companion will be found for a single passenger, at a special rate. That rate will be honored even if the cruise line is unable to find a cabin mate. The rate is usually the going double-rate at that time, and is much less than the single person rate for that cabin.

Guaranteed tour – A tour guaranteed to operate unless canceled before an established cutoff date (usually 60 days prior to departure).

Guest account – See folio.

Guest houses – a guest house is a private house offering accommodations to paying guests.

Guest ranch – a guest ranch, also known as a dude ranch, is a type of ranch oriented towards visitors or tourism. It is considered a form of agritourism.

Guide or guide service – A person or company qualified to conduct tours of specific localities or attractions.

Guided tour – A local sightseeing trip conducted by a guide.

Half pension – a hotel rate that includes breakfast and one other meal, usually dinner. Sometimes called Modified American Plan (MAP) or demi-pension.

Hard-copy – a printed version of a document, such as an airline ticket or hotel voucher.

Head tax – Fee charged for arriving and departing passengers in some foreign countries.

Hidden-city ticketing – another airline no-no; buying a ticket from A to C with a stop in B. The passenger gets off at B, which was the intended destination anyway. The ticket is purchased because the fare from A to C is LESS than A to B.

High season – the time of year when a destination gets the greatest crowds, and thus can increase hotel and rental car rates, etc. As an example, summertime is high season for travel to Europe (just check the airfares!).

High season – See peak season.

Hiking Trips and tours – a hiking trip or hiking tour is a category of travel vacation or getaway where the traveler is walking or hiking as the major mode of transportation.

Honeymoon Travel – Honeymoon travel is a category of travel where a newly married couple travels while celebrating their marriage.

Hosted group tour – A group tour that features a representative (the host) of the tour operator, destination, or other tour provider, who interacts with the group only for a few hours a day to provide information and arrange for transportation. The host usually does not accompany the group as it travels.

Hostel – an inexpensive accommodation, usually dormitory style, popular with the student crowd – thus the term “youth hostel”.

Hotel – a hotel is an establishment providing accommodations, meals, and other services for travelers and tourists.

House – A synonym used for hotel.

Hub – an airport or city in which an airline has a major presence and many flights to other destinations. As an example, Delta has a hub in Atlanta. Many carriers use the hub-and-spoke system to maximize profits by keeping the aircraft in the air as much as possible. Flights to the hub are many, and from there flights too many other destinations are scheduled.

Hub-and-spoke itinerary – A travel routing design that uses a central destination as the departure and return point for day trips to outlying destinations and attractions.

Hurricane season – in the Caribbean primarily, and the Southeastern US, a period from June through October during which such storms are likely to occur.

IATA – International airline industry trade group, headquartered in Montreal, Canada, with executive offices in Geneva, Switzerland.

IATAN – International Airlines Travel Agent Network – administers the IATAN card, the only widely accepted form of legitimate travel agent identification.

In season – meaning only available at certain times of the year.

In transit – en route; in the process of traveling.

Inbound operator – A receptive operator that usually serves groups arriving from another country.

Inbound tour – A tour for groups of travelers whose trip originates in another location, usually another country.

Incentive or incentive commission – See override.

Incentive tour – A trip offered as a prize, particularly to stimulate the productivity of employees or sales agents.

Incentive trave l – travel as a reward for an employee’s outstanding performance.

Incidental Charge – Items and services billed to a room after their use, such as movies, phone calls, etc.

Incidentals – Charges incurred by the participants of a tour, but which are not included in the tour price.

Inclusive tour – a package tour that bundles transportation, accommodations, transfers, sightseeing, possibly some meals, etc.

Inclusive tour – See all-inclusive package.

Independent tour – A travel package in which a tour operator is involved only with the planning, marketing, and selling of the package, but is not involved with the passengers while the tour is in progress.

In-flight Service – Entertainment (movies, television, etc.), meals, beverages and other items made available during a flight for the convenience of the passenger.

Inside cabin – a stateroom aboard ship that has no window. Sometimes smaller, but at times the same size as an outside cabin.

Intercontinental – Having to do with two continents. In travel, transit from one continent to another. Not to be confused with transcontinental.

interline connection – a flight on one airline that connects to a flight on another carrier – these tickets are usually more expensive than flying all on one carrier but may be the only way to get to a destination in some cases.

Intermodal tour – A tour that uses several forms of transportation, such as a plane, motorcoach, cruise ship, and train.

International Air Transport Association – International airline industry trade group, headquartered in Montreal, Canada, with executive offices in Geneva, Switzerland.

International Date Line – at 180 degrees longitude, the date on one side of this imaginary line, running from the north to the South Pole, is different from the other. The line runs through the Pacific Ocean, and because of it, it is possible to leave one destination on one day, and arrive in another the day before

International Rate Desk – Utilizes all available resources to ensure the lowest fare for your selected itinerary, including splitting tickets, consolidator fares, and available discounts.

Involvement device – An element of direct mail that gets the reader involved in the process of evaluating and/or responding to the solicitation.

Itinerary – A list of a tour’s or entire trip’s schedule and major travel elements.

Jet Bridge – An enclosed, movable connector which extends from a terminal gate to a plane, allowing passengers to board and disembark without having to go outside.

Jet lag – an upset of one’s biological clock, due to travel across many time zones; not all folks are affected by it.

Jones Act – a law dating back to 1886, that forbids foreign-flagged ships from carrying passengers between US ports with no foreign port stops in-between.

Judgment sample – A sample based on the researcher’s choice of subjects for a study.

Jump Seat – A flight term referring to an auxiliary (extra) seat for persons who are not operating the aircraft, such as the cabin crew or perhaps a trainee.

Kilometer – a measure of distance used in almost all other countries, at about 5/8 mile.

King room – a hotel room with a king bed.

Knot – a nautical measure of speed equaling approx. 1.5 mph. A ship traveling at 15 knots is traveling at about 22 mph.

Kph – kilometers-per-hour – land speed measurement in most other countries. 60 kph equals approx. 36 miles-per-hour.

Land arrangements – all the details of a land portion of a trip (hotel, car, tours, sightseeing, etc.).

Land Destinations – A land destination or travel destination is a place to which one is journeying, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure, adventure and amusement.

Land operator – See receptive operator.

Land Transfers – travel by train, bus, limo or taxi to and from an accommodation, plane or cruise ship.

Land-only – a rate that does NOT include airfare; usually includes most other land-based charges such as accommodations, transfers, taxes, and perhaps other optional items like theme park tickets, rental care, etc.

Last-seat availability – the ability of a travel agent to get, literally, the ” last seat ” for you on a particular flight, either at a certain fare or actually the last remaining seat on an aircraft. See “direct access”.

Late booking fee – a fee due if travel arrangement are made at the last minute. Normally covers express delivery of documents and other last-minute arrangements that may have to be made by a tour operator.

Late Checkout – A more exclusive perk for some guests that allow a few extra hours to check out from the normal hours.

Latitude – imaginary horizontal lines of angular distance, measured in degrees north or south of the equator.

Layover – a period of time spent during a trip, sometimes overnight, while waiting for a transportation connection – usually a change of planes.

Layover – The period of time spent between connecting flights.

LDW – loss damage waiver – additional insurance pertaining to car rentals, covering theft and vandalism in addition to accident damage.

Lead-in price – the lowest available price for a travel product, often pertaining to cabins on a cruise ship. Usually, there are only a few staterooms available on board each cruise liner in this category, but often better accommodations are only slightly higher in price. Rock-bottom price shoppers normally insist on these rates, though they sell out quickly.

Leeward – the side of a ship or an island that is located opposite from the direction of the prevailing wind -the “Leeward Islands” in the Caribbean for example.

Leg – Portion of a journey between two scheduled stops.

Leisure travel – Usually signifies traveling for relaxation, vacation, or to visit friends/family. Travel for pleasure as opposed to business.

Letter of agreement – A letter from the buyer to the supplier accepting the terms of the proposal. This may also be the supplier’s first proposal that has been initialed by the buyer.

Lido deck – usually the deck on a cruise ship that surrounds the pool area.

Limited service hotel – a hotel property without a restaurant.

List broker – A seller of mail lists for direct marketing.

Load factor – The number of passengers traveling on a vehicle, vessel, or aircraft compared to the number of available seats or cabins.

Locater map – A map of an area or a city, showing locations of attractions and hotels.

Lodging – Any establishment that provides shelter and overnight accommodations to travelers.

Logistics – Management of the details of an operation.

Low season – the period when a destination experiences its lowest prices and the fewest number of guests.

Low season – See off peak.

Lower (bed) – in a cruise stateroom, the bed(s) on the floor as opposed to the higher bunks (uppers), if any. On many ships, two lowers can be arranged to make a king or queen bed.

Lowest available fare – the current, lowest airfare available for purchase right then.

Lowest available fare – The most inexpensive flight currently available.

Lowest fare – the lowest published airfare between two cities; may not have seats available at that fare, as the airlines usually have a limited number of those seats on any given flight.

Luxury class – the most expensive, high-class accommodations or category of fare.

Luxury Cruise – Luxury cruises are the most comfortable and convenient way to see the world. Ships are usually smaller in size so the ratio of crew and staff to guests is generally higher than other cruise ships offering that premium service and attention to detail to be expected of exquisite vacations.

Luxury Ocean Cruise – a luxury ocean cruise is an ocean cruise on a luxury cruise ship or luxury cruise liner or passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship’s amenities are a part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way.

Luxury River Cruise – a luxury river cruise is a river cruise on a luxury cruise ship or luxury passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship’s amenities are a part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way.

Luxury travel – while luxury travel is completely subjective to the traveler, it can be loosely defined at travel that constitutes the state of great comfort and extravagant living.

Luxury vacations – a luxury vacation is a vacation that encompasses a state of great comfort and extravagant living.

Macro-environment – The broad forces in society and the business world that impact most companies.

Management Company – A firm that owns several lodging properties.

Manifest – Final official listing of all passengers and/or cargo aboard a transportation vehicle or vessel.

Market demand – The amount of a specific product or service that may be purchased during a certain period of time in a particular geographic area.

Market forecast – The realistic demand within a given time period for the products produced by all companies within a certain industry or product category.

Market – All existing and potential customers for a product or service.

Marketing mix – The 4 Ps of marketing- product, price, promotion, place (distribution).

Marketing plan – A written report that details marketing objectives for a product or service, and recommends strategies for achieving these objectives.

Marketing research – The function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through the systematic gathering and analyzing of information.

Markup pricing – Pricing a product by adding a standard markup to costs. Also called cost-plus pricing.

Markup – A percentage added to the cost of a product to achieve a selling price.

Master account – The guest account for a particular group or function that will be paid by the sponsoring organization. See folio.

Maximum stay – The longest period of time a traveler can stay at a particular destination and still qualify for the promotion or discounted fare.

Media – Communications channel such as broadcast (radio, TV), print (newspapers, magazines, direct mail), outdoor (billboards), and multimedia (Internet).

Meet-and-greet service – A pre-purchased service for meeting and greeting clients upon arrival in a city, usually at the airport, pier, or rail station, and assisting clients with entrance formalities, collecting baggage, and obtaining transportation.

Meeting/conference tour – A tour designed around a specific meeting or conference for the participants.

Microenvironment – Those forces close to a company that impact operations and marketing programs.

Midships – Directional term. Amidships, sometimes termed midships, is the center of the vessel or aircraft.

Minimum connect time – defined as the minimum time necessary between connecting flights – 30 minutes domestically, usually – ideally, at least an hour. The shortest time required in order to successfully transfer to a connecting flight. It is recommended to select a connecting flight that exceeds the minimum connection time.

Mission statement – The concise description of what an organization is, its purpose, and what it intends to accomplish.

Modified American plan (MAP) – meal plan that includes two daily meals, usually breakfast and dinner.

Motorcoach tour operators – Tour operators that own their own motorcoaches.

Motorcoach Tour – A tour that features the motorcoach as the form of transportation to and from destinations.

Motorcoach – A large, comfortable bus that can transport travelers and their luggage long distances.

MST – Mountain Standard Time.

Multi-day tour – A travel package of two or more days. Most multi-day tours are escorted, all-inclusive packages.

Multigenerational Travel – multigenerational travel is a travel category referring to travel with parents, siblings, kids, grandkids, and assorted family members with the goal to broaden horizons, provide opportunities to reconnect and provide an enriching assortment of shared experiences.

Murder-mystery tour – A tour that features a staged “murder” and involves travelers in solving the crime.

Mystery tour – A journey to unpublicized destinations in which tour takers aren’t told where they will be going until en route or upon arrival.

NACTA – National Association of Career Travel Agents – trade group representing primarily independent and home-based agents, now part of ASTA.

National tourism organization (NTO) – A federal-government-level DMO that promotes country as a travel destination.

Nautical Mile – Unit of length that is about one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian, but is approximately one minute of arc of longitude. Air-Sea distance measurement of approx. 1.1 statute miles.

Negotiated Rate – A discounted rate offered to a company based on the volume of business you agree to provide the selected vendor.

Net fare, net rate – Implies the commission has already been added to the price of the fare.

Net wholesale rate – A rate usually slightly lower than the wholesale rate, applicable to groups of individuals when a hotel is specifically mentioned in a tour brochure. The rate is marked up by wholesale sellers of tours to cover distribution and promotion costs.

Niche market – A highly specialized segment of the travel market, such as an affinity group with a unique special interest.

No show – a passenger who doesn’t show for a flight, hotel, or rental car booking. A guest with confirmed reservations who does not arrive and whose reservation was not canceled.

Non Stop Flight – Do not land in between your departure and arrival destinations. (I.e. San Francisco to New York)

Non-Changeable Ticket – A ticket that cannot be exchanged for a different route or flight once it’s been purchased.

Non-refundable – a fare that cannot be refunded either in cash or via a credit card credit; very seldom is there an exception.

Non-Refundable Ticket – A ticket that cannot be returned for cash or credit once it’s been purchased, but may be changeable for a fee.

Nonstop – A flight that travels directly to its destination without connections or layovers.

Non-transferable – A ticket that can only be used by the person who was originally scheduled to fly at the time of purchase.

NTSB – National Transportation Safety Board; investigates accidents and other incidents related to public transportation.

Objective and task method – A process for creating a promotion budget that sets objectives first, then defines the tasks needed to achieve those objectives, and then commits funds necessary to perform the tasks.

Occupancy rate – the percent of hotel rooms expected to be filled during a specific time period.

Occupancy – The percentage of available rooms occupied for a given period. It is computed by dividing the number of rooms occupied for a period by the number of rooms available for the same period.

Ocean view cabin – a cabin aboard a cruise ship with a window, such as a porthole or picture-window, and perhaps a balcony/verandah.

OCV – ocean view, usually in reference to a hotel room.

Offline connection – a change of aircraft also involving a change of carriers.

Off-peak – A less expensive time to travel as result of lower consumer volume during these periods.

On-site guide – A tour guide who conducts tours of one or several hours’ duration at a specific building, attraction, or site.

Onsite – An on-site is an expert travel provider that lives in the country they serve and has firsthand knowledge and long-standing relationships with all aspect of travel in their country.

Open jaw – a trip in during which there is no travel by air between two cities, such as a flight to Washington DC, then travel by rental car to Charlotte, NC, then a return by air from Charlotte back to the original departure city.

Open return – an air ticket with no return date specified. Rarely done these days, usually quite expensive and not allowed on most discounted fares.

Open-end question – A question that allows the respondent to provide a free-response answer.

Open-jaw itinerary – A travel routing design that departs from one location and returns to another. For example, travelers may fly into one city and depart from another one. Or a traveler may purchase round-trip transportation from the point of origin to one destination, at which another form of transportation is used to reach a second destination, where the traveler resumes the initial form of transportation to return to the point of origin.

Operations – Performing the practical work of operating a tour or travel program.

Operator – a company providing transportation or travel related services (airline, cruise line, railway, hotel, car Rental Company, etc.).

Operator – See Tour Operator.

Option date – drop dead date on which a reservation must be deposited or cancellation will result.

Optionals – Optional tour features that are not included in the base tour price, such as sightseeing excursions or special activities.

OTA – Online travel agencies, examples include Priceline, Expedia and Orbitz

Outbound – the departure leg of a journey.

Outbound operator – A company that takes groups from a given city or country to another city or country.

Outbound tour – A tour that takes travelers out of the area, usually from a domestic city to another country.

Outside cabin – see “ocean view ” cabin.

Outside salesperson – job description of a travel agency employee who sells travel but is not based primarily in the agency location most of the time.

Overbook – Accepting reservations for more space than is available.

Overbooking – the practice of selling more airline seats than are available on a specific flight, to make up for no-shows. Usually backfires on the carrier and at times can create much consumer ill-will. Requires passengers to be “bumped” – not always voluntarily. To some extent, happens in the hotel industry as well.

Overhead – Those fixed costs involved in regular operations, such as rent, insurance, management salaries, and utilities.

Override – A commission over and above the normal base commission percentage.

Packaged travel – A package in combination of two or more types of tour components into a product which is produced, assembled, promoted and sold as a package by a tour operator for an all-inclusive price.

Passenger facility charge (PFC) – a fee for the use of many airports, added in to the cost of an air ticket – another name for an additional tax on travelers.

Passenger name record (PNR) – The official name of one’s reservation in a computer reservation system (CRS).

Passenger vessel – Ships, yachts, ferries, boats, etc.

Passport/visa service – a service that will take your passport and hand carry, if necessary, to the appropriate embassy in order to expedite a visa. Can be expensive if you have waited until the last minute to obtain a travel visa.

Patronage Program – A program that rewards the customer for loyalty and repeat purchase, such as frequent-flyer programs.

Peak season – A destination’s high season when demand is strong. Also called the high season.

Peninsula – A piece of land that is connected to a mainland or larger piece of land on only one side, while the other sides are surrounded by water.

Per Diem – “by the day;” in the cruise industry, the per-day cost of a cruise, per person.

Per-capita costs – Per-person costs.

Per-capita tour – See scheduled tour.

Perceived value – The ratio of perceived benefits to perceived price.

Personal effects coverage – Additional car rental insurance covering loss of personal property from the rented vehicle.

Point-to-point – refers to the fares between two cities; the service between two cities without additional segments or any continuation.

Port – the place where a ship docks; a place visited by cruise ship; the left side of a vessel.

Port charges/taxes – fees levied by local authorities upon the cruise lines for each passenger visiting a port of call, normally added to the total cruise fare.

Port of Debarkation – Port of Debarkation is the geographic point where personnel arrive on a cruise vessel

Port of Embarkation – Port of Embarkation is the geographic point where personnel depart on a cruise vessel

Port of entry – Destination providing customs and immigration services.

Port-Directional – When facing forward, the side of the ship or aircraft that is on the left.

Porter – A person who handles luggage at an airport, train station, etc.; also called skycap or baggage handler.

Porthole – usually a round, sealed window in a shipboard stateroom.

Posada – a small country hotel (Spanish).

Positioning strategy – The development of a clear, unique, and attractive image for a company and/or product in the minds of target customers.

Positive space – space aboard a ship or aircraft that can be confirmed ahead of time.

Post-Cruise Vacation – a post-cruise vacation is a vacation or getaway prior to a cruise in the town or region of the port of debarkation of the cruise.

PPDO – per person, double occupancy. Most tours and cruises are quoted this way; the average cost to stay in a particular location per day.

Pre- and post-trip tour – An optional extension or side trip package before and/or after a meeting, gathering, or convention.

Pre-Cruise Vacation – a vacation or getaway prior to a cruise in the town or region of the port of embarkation of the cruise.

Pre-deduct commission – When a distributor such as a travel agent takes up front the commission on a sale and sends the supplier the balance of the sales price.

Preferred Supplier – The selection of specific supplier(s) for priority promotion to customers and/or integration in travel packages in exchange for reduced rates and/or higher commission.

Preferred Vendor – The vendor(s) a company specifies as their first choice for travelers.

Preformed group – A pre-existing collection of travelers, such as affinity groups and travel clubs, whose members share a common interest or organizational affiliation.

Prepaid ticket advice – a form used when purchasing an air ticket to be picked up and used by someone else at another airport. E-tickets have reduced the need for this greatly.

Primary research – The collection of data specifically to solve the marketing problem at hand.

Prix fixe – meals offered at a fixed price, usually fairly low, consisting of several courses with no substitutions allowed. Common in Europe.

Profit margin – A dollar value that represents the markup of a product’s price over its costs.

Promotion mix – Promotion tools including advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion, and public relations.

Promotional group tour – A travel package composed of tour elements that match the specific needs and wants of niche customers who aren’t part of an organized or preformed group.

Promotional partnership – The combination of two or more companies to offer special incentives to customers.

Prop – referring to propeller-driven aircraft.

Property – A specific lodging structure, such as a hotel, and the ground on which it is built.

Property – A general term that may be used by a place of accommodation that denotes the facility.

Protection overbooking – The practice of blocking space that will likely be in excess of what will actually be needed.

Pseudo-agent – someone claiming to be a travel agent who really isn’t.  They often produce bogus ID cards, and can disappear when problems arise!

PST – Pacific Standard Time.

Psychographics – Measures of a person’s lifestyle. See also AIO variables.

Public relations (PR) – A management function that determines the attitudes and opinions of an organization’s publics, identifies its policies with the interests of its publics, and formulates and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and goodwill.

Public tours – See scheduled tour.

Published fare – an airfare that is listed in the carrier’s tariff.

Pull strategy – A marketing approach that creates demand at the customer level by generating awareness, interest, and desire so customers pull a product through a distribution channel by demanding it.

Purser – aboard ship, the person responsible for providing a wide array of services such as information, making change, stamps, etc. Found at the purser’s desk.

Purser-(Airline) – On a flight, the purser is the head flight attendant, responsible for overseeing the attendants and making sure travelers’ needs are met.

Push strategy – A marketing approach that creates demand at the distributor level by providing resellers with an incentive to push (sell) a product to end consumers.

Quad – a room suitable for four persons.

Quay – a pier – pronounced the same as “key”.

Query – The process of sorting and retrieving information from a database.

Quid – a monetary term for a British pound sterling.

Quota sample – A research sample that involves forming groups based on certain characteristics. A random sample can then be selected form the quota segments.

Rack rate – The published (brochure) rate for a travel component. The price of a hotel prior to discount.

Rate desk – the office of an air carrier that calculates fares for passengers and travel agents.

Reach – The measure of how many people in a market will be exposed to a certain advertisement via a specific medium.

Reasonable number – A forecast of the break-even point for a tour.

Rebate (ing) – the practice of returning part of an agency’s commission on a scale back to the client in the form of a rebate or “discount.” The trade-off is usually little or no personal/customer service. This is practiced often by “800 ” number travel sellers and others who deal in huge volume.

Receptive operator – A local tour company that specializes in services for incoming visitors, often for tour operator groups.

Reconfirm – to double-check a reservation.

Record locator – The number assigned to a reservation in the airlines number. This number is unique, as it will never be assigned again.

Record locator – the number assigned to one’s reservation in an airline’s computer system.

Red-eye flight – An overnight flight that leaves at night and arrives early the next morning.

Referral agent/agency – an ” agent ” that refers business to a travel agency in return for a commission or fee – often as part of a card mill operation

Registry – the formal registration of a ship’s ownership, and the country it is registered in (such as Panama, Liberia, Norway, etc.).

Reissue – the generation of a new ticket that is exchanged for another, due to a change of plans, dates, flights, etc. May involve additional fare, penalties and fees.

Relationship marketing – The process of building and nurturing ongoing, solid relationship with customers.

Repositionin g – the moving of a cruise ship to another home port for all of part of a season, such as the repositioning of ships to Alaska for the summer. Often these cruises are excellent bargains, but will involve one-way airfare home from the port of debarkation.

Res – short for “reservation”.

Research constraints – Those issues, such as cost and timing that will limit the scope of marketing research.

Reseller – See retailer and wholesaler.

Reservation fee – A customer payment for a certain percentage of the travel package price that’s made immediately after booking.

Responsible Tourism – Travel that extends beyond being merely environmentally responsible, to being culturally-conscious and economically-aware, locally.

Retail price – The actual price a customer pays for a travel element or tour.

Retail tour – See scheduled tour.

Retailer – A middleman, such as a travel agent, who sells directly to the customer.

Retirement travel – retirement travel is a category of travel referring to when a traveler is has retired from a career and commences to travel.  Travel done after retirement age.

Rollaway – a cot or other bedding that can be added to a hotel room to accommodate another guest. There is often an extra charge for this.

Romantic Destinations – romance destination and romance travel is a category of travel that involves travel involving a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love and often refers to travel associated with a wedding, honeymoon, wedding anniversary, babymoon or another type of romantic getaway.

Room Night – In the hotel (hospitality) industry, a room night, room/night occupancy, is a measure of occupancy where a room is the unit of measure.

Room Occupancy – In the hotel (hospitality) industry, a room night, room/night occupancy, is a measure of occupancy where a room is the unit of measure.

Room rates – The various rates used by lodging properties to price rooms. These include- day rate (usually one half the regular rate for a room used by a guest during the day up to 5 p.m.-sometimes called a use rate), flat rate (a specific room rate for a group agreed upon by the hotel and group in advance), group rate (same as flat rate), net group rate ( a wholesale rate for group business to which an operator may add a markup if desired), net wholesale rate ( a rate usually lower than the group rate and applicable to groups or individuals when a hotel is specifically mentioned in a tour folder), and published rate ( a full rate available to or advertised to the public-also called the rack rate.)

Rooming list – A printout of the names of all tour participants that also lists special lodging requests and provides a spot for the hotel or cruise ship to fill in the passenger’s room number.

Round trip – A flight to a single destination and a return.

Run-of-house (ROH) – refers to a hotel room, the type of which is assigned at the discretion of the hotel shortly before you arrive. Usually, the rates are lower.

Run-of-ship – cabin is assigned at the last moment, giving the cruise line the ability to shift accommodations as needed. Usually, you are guaranteed a minimum category of cabin, and sometimes get an upgraded stateroom at no additional cost. Most upgrades are from inside-to-inside cabins, or from outside-to-outside but occasionally an inside-to-ocean view upgrade will occur. It is not always worth the gamble though.

Run-of-the-house rate – A flat rate for which a lodging property agrees to offer any of its available rooms to a group. Final assignment of the rooms is at the discretion of lodging management.

Sabre® – A computerized travel reservation system.

Safaris – Today the negative hunting connotations of the word ‘safari’ are being rapidly replaced by more modern associations with socially and environmentally responsible travel. Safari travel typically implies that the journey will include game viewing and some time spent in wilderness areas (game reserves and national parks). A traditional is usually focused on seeing wildlife, but safaris are definitely not limited to game viewing.  Safaris are now for admiring wildlife and birds in the wild, along with a host of other adventures. Safaris have largely developed into vacation trips that actually benefit the wildlife by supporting local conservation efforts and wildlife sanctuaries. As opposed to hunting the animals, visitors get to encounter them and help make a difference in protecting the species. Safari companies either actively contribute towards conservation projects or help generate tourism revenue which is used to manage wildlife projects and game reserves. The modern safari is also a socially responsible journey designed to interact ethically with local communities and have a positive impact on local economies. The cultural interactions offered by reputable safari operators do not exploit local people. The local communities benefit from sustainable tourism through employment and financial gains from selling goods and services.

Sales margin – A term used by resellers to describe profit as a percentage of sales revenue.

Sample – The portion of a population chosen to represent the population being studied for research.

Saturday night stay – A requirement by the airlines that your travel must involve a Saturday night stay over in order to obtain our lowest fare.

Saturday night stay – In order to receive a specialty fare, a Saturday stay over is sometimes required.

Scandals tour – A light-hearted history tour that shows locations where interesting scandals took place.

Scheduled carrier – An airline that offers regularly scheduled flights between destinations.

Scheduled flights – Air flights that are publicly scheduled and promoted by major airlines.

Scheduled tour – A tour that’s set in a tour operator’s regular schedule of tour departures and that’s often sold to the general public. Also called public tour or retail tour.

Sea bands – a product resembling a bracelet that is worn on the wrists and operates via acupressure.

Wearers claim that seasickness can be avoided by their use, thus eliminating the need for drugs such as Dramamine, etc.

Sea legs – the ability to move around on a ship without losing balance and without sea sickness.

Secondary information – Research data that was collected by another company or person and usually for a purpose that’s different than the research objectives and tasks at hand.

Sectioning system (GPS) – system of satellites that allows miniature radio receivers on earth to pinpoint one’s location within a few feet. Most cruise ships make use of this system to navigate the world’s oceans.

Segment – a “leg” or part of a journey, usually in reference to an air itinerary. One take-off and landing during air travel constitutes a “segment”.

Segment – One leg or portion of a trip. The segment begins when you board the plane and ends when you de-board the plane. (I.e. A connecting flight from San Francisco to New York through Chicago equals 2 segments)

Self-drive – a rental car (British term).

Service non comprise – in French, meaning “service not included”.

Shells – Preprinted brochures with photos, illustrations, and graphics but no text; also called slicks.

Shore excursio n – tours that are purchased as an option when visiting ports of call while on a cruise; can sometimes be bought before you cruise.

Shore excursion – A land tour, usually available at ports of call, sold by cruise lines or tour operators to cruise passengers.

Shoulder season – a period of time between high and low seasons, where prices at a destination are between their highest and lowest, and the crowds are thinner.

Shoulder season – Those periods between the peak and off season when destination demand is moderate.

Sightseeing companies – Organizations that provide local guided tours.

Sightseeing guide – See driver/guide.

Sightseeing tour – Short excursions of usually a few hours that focus on sightseeing and/or attraction visits.

Simple random sample – A sample that draws a group of respondents randomly from all members of the population.

Single Room – A room that is only guaranteed to comfortably accommodate one guest. May also be called a “Standard Room.”

Single Supplement – An additional charge added to a solo traveler, when prices were originally quoted for dual occupancy.

Sleeper – the sleeping compartment aboard a train.

Soft adventure – an outdoor travel experience that is not especially physically demanding, such as a canyon horseback trail ride or a hot-air balloon flight.

Sommelier – A wine professional, usually hired by the most upscale restaurants and establishments, on staff to primarily suggest wine and food pairing to patrons.

Spa – a resort area centered around a mineral springs, hot springs and the like, typically where one can find massage, hydrotherapy, exercise, steam baths, etc.

Special event tour – A travel package that features major happenings, such as concerts or sporting events, as the reason for the journey.

Special fare – Any fare that deviates from normal pricing (typically discounted).

Special interest tour – a tour catering to the needs of a specific interest, such as bird-watching, whale-watching, river rafting, mountain biking, rain forest exploration among many others.

Split itinerary – An itinerary in which part of the group does one thing while the other part does something else.

Split Ticket – Issuing multiple tickets for one round-trip journey. This is done to reduce the total cost of the entire reservation.

Sports Tourism – sports tourism refers to travel which involves either observing or participating in a sporting event staying apart from their usual environment.

Stabilizer – a device on most all cruise vessels, to reduce pitch and roll when at sea – the movement that can cause seasickness. Stabilizers are often pulled in at night in order to allow faster speeds when traveling between ports of call.

Standby – Referring to a passenger who does not have a confirmed seat on the intended flight.

Star Service – a critical guide describing in detail many hotel and cruise ship properties. Can be subjective, as it is based on someone’s opinion, but provides a travel agent with a non-commercial point-of-view.

Starboard – the right side of a ship.

Stateroom – A private cabin or compartment with sleeping accommodations on a ship or train.

Step-on guide – A tour guide who boards a motorcoach to give detailed, expert commentary about the city or area being visited.

Stern – the rear of a ship.

Stopover – a planned stayover in a city for a day or more, while enrooted to another destination. Sometimes adds significantly to the cost of an air ticket.

Strategic plan – A report that describes a company’s mission statement, goals, objectives and strategic actions.

Student visa – permission to enter a country, issued to a student, normally for the purpose of attending school in that country.

Subcontractor – A local operator who provides services for a wholesaler.

Suite – a hotel accommodation with more than one room, or sometimes a single room with distinct sleeping and living areas and often a kitchenette. A suite in a hotel or other public accommodation denotes a class of accommodations with more space and amenities than a typical accommodation room. Luxury or upscale accommodations often have a scaled range of suites progressively increasing in size, luxury and amenities starting with a junior suite and culminating in the largest and most luxurious suite which is often called a presidential or royal suite.

Supplier – any company that supplies travel and/or related services to the traveling public. The actual producer and seller of travel components.

Surface – travel over land that does not involve an aircraft.

SWOT analysis – A summary of a company’s strengths and weaknesses, and the environmental opportunities and threats that will most influence it.

T&E – Travel and Entertainment expenses.

Target market – The group of customers who will be the focus of a company’s marketing efforts.

Tariff – a schedule of prices/fares.

Telemarketing – Direct marketing via the telephone.

Tender – a small boat or ferry that carries passengers from an anchored cruise ship to the pier at a port of call. Many ships are too large for existing port facilities at some destinations, and so they anchor just off shore and “tender “their passengers in for their visit.

Terminal – A building where clients report for trips via train, plane, etc.; also called a depot or a station.

TGV – the term applied to the French high-speed train system.

Theme cruise – a cruise devoted to a specific interest, such as big bands, country western, Star Trek, exercise and weight-loss, cooking and cuisine, and many more. There is usually a theme cruise to suit just about any interest.

Theme tour – A tour that’s designed around a concept of specific interest to the tour takers, such as history or sports.

Through passenger – a passenger who is not disembarking at a particular stop while enrooted to the final destination.

Ticket stock – Blank airline tickets.

Tickler system – A method for monitoring reservations and payments that’s arranged by date and points out late payments so customers can be contacted.

Tiered override pla n – When commissions rise proportionately with a corresponding increase in sales.

Tiered pricing – When suppliers offer different prices to receptive operators, tour operators, and group leaders, so each party can earn a profit by marking up the supplier’s price while still offering a fair price to customers.

Tour broker – See tour operator.

Tour catalog – A publication by tour wholesalers listing their tour offerings. Catalogs are distributed to retail agents who make them available to their customers. Bookings by retail agents are commissionable.

Tour Company – A tour company or tour operator typically combines tour and travel components to create a packaged vacation. They advertise and produce brochures to promote their products, vacation and itineraries.

Tour conductor – the person who accompanies and is in charge of a tour, often on a motor coach tour. See tour director.

Tour departure – The date of the start by any individual or group of a tour program or, by extension, the entire operation of that single tour.

Tour director – Also called tour manager, tour conductor, and tour escort. The person who is responsible for a group on tour and for most aspects of a tour’s execution.

Tour escort – See tour director.

Tour guide – A person qualified (and often certified) to conduct tours of specific locations or attractions.

See also step-on guide, city guide, on-site guide, and docent.

Tour manager – See tour director.

Tour manual – A compendium of facts about a destination, tour procedures, forms, and other information that a tour operator gives to its tour directors.

Tour menu – A menu that limits group clients to two or three choices.

Tour operator – A person or company that contracts with suppliers to create and/or market a tour and/or subcontract their performance.

Tour order – A voucher given to the purchaser of a tour package that identifies the tour, the seller, and the fact that the tour is prepaid. The purchaser then uses this form as proof of payment and receives vouchers for meals, porterage, transfers, entrance fees, and other expenses. See also voucher.

Tour planner – A person who researches destinations and suppliers, negotiates contracts, and creates itineraries for travel packages.

Tour rate – See group rate.

Tour series – Multiple departures to the same destination throughout the year.

Tour – A prearranged, prepaid journey to one or more destinations that generally returns to the point of origin, is usually arranged with an itinerary of leisure activities, and includes at least two travel elements.

Tourism – The business of providing marketing services and facilities for leisure travelers.

Tourist card – a card issued to a visitor in lieu of a visa, usually for a short duration visit.

Tourist – This is the majority of adult travelers, when not vacationing. Tourists may be couples, families, or just a person or two who visit locations.

Tours – a tour is a journey for pleasure which includes the visiting of a number of places in sequence, especially with an organized group often led by a guide.

Tracking study – A survey of customers before and after implementing a promotion campaign to assess changes in consumer behavior.

Trans-canal – passing through the Panama Canal.

Transcon – Having to do with crossing a continent. For example, travel of this sort would be from one end of a continent to another.

Transcontinental – Having to do with crossing a continent. For example, travel of this sort would be from one end of a continent to another.

Transfer – Local transportation and porterage from one carrier terminal to another, from a terminal to a hotel, or from a hotel to an attraction.

Transient Occupancy Tax – Also known as a Bed Tax, it is a City or County tax added to the price of the room.

Transient – A person who stays in a place for just a short while; not a permanent resident, such as a visitor or tourist.

Transit visa – A visa allowing the holder to stop over in a country or make a travel connection or a brief visit.

Transportation – Any method of moving travelers from one point in a journey to another, such as air, ship, rail, and motor coach travel.

Travel advisor – a travel advisor simplifies the time-consuming and complicated process of planning travel for their customers in addition to providing consultation services and entire travel packages. They may book flights, cruises, rental cars and hotels, as well as resort stays and events. Agents cater to a wide demographic, serving both individuals and corporations. They may also concentrate in a special segment of travel; many advisors specialize in leisure, business or group travel, or destination-specific journeys.

Travel advisory – a travel warning issued by the US Department of State, indicating a special caution should be taken in a country due to political unrest, natural disaster, or other special situation. These can be obtained from any good travel agent, on any area you are considering visiting.

Travel agency – Usually used in the travel industry to refer to an ARC-appointed storefront retailer.

Travel agent – A person or firm qualified to arrange for lodging, meals, transportation, cruises, tours, and other travel elements, typically on a commission basis. A travel agent simplifies the time-consuming and complicated process of planning travel for their customers in addition to providing consultation services and entire travel packages. They may book flights, cruises, rental cars and hotels, as well as resort stays and events. Agents cater to a wide demographic, serving both individuals and corporations. They may also concentrate in a special segment of travel; many agents specialize in leisure, business or group travel, or destination-specific journeys.

Travel component – Transportation, lodging, dining, attractions, entertainment, guide services, and other travel elements offered as part of a travel package.

Travel Destination – a place to which one is journeying.

Travel Experience – A travel experience or experiential travel (also known as immersion travel) as it is commonly referred to, is a form of tourism in which people focus on experiencing a country, city or particular place by connecting to its history, people and culture.

Travel Institute – the primary educational and certification arm of the travel industry. Was formerly the “Institute of Certified Travel Agents” (ICTA), located in Wellesley, Mass.

Travel Insurance – Travel insurance is insurance that is intended to cover medical expenses, trip cancellation, lost luggage, flight accident and other losses incurred while traveling, either internationally or within one’s own country.

Travel Itinerary – a travel itinerary is a travel plan or organization of your travel and involves all of the details, times and dates concerning things like airline, cruises and train transportation confirmations, hotel, villa and accommodation reservations, rental car information, restaurant reservations and much more.

Travel Policy – A fluid internal document, pertinent to the company’s culture that outlines the guidelines for business travel and expenses within a company.

Travel rewards – Travel reward programs are often referred to as a loyalty rewards program, and they are generally a campaign devised to generate repeat customers for a particular company by offering a point gratification system for the customers’ business. They are also meant to provide customers with a “thank you” for their loyalty to a company’s product or service. That benefit is typically some sort of discount on certain items or services. Travel specialist – a travel specialist is a travel agent or travel advisor that concentrates in a special segment of travel; many travel agents or travel advisors specialize in leisure, group or business travel, or destination specific travel.

Travel Tours – a travel tour is a journey for pleasure which includes the visiting of a number of places in sequence, especially with an organized group often led by a guide.

Traveler – One who travels.

Travelogues – Many travel websites are online travelogues or travel journals, usually created by individual travelers and hosted by companies that generally provide their information to consumers for free. These companies generate revenue through advertising or by providing services to other businesses. This medium produces a wide variety of styles, often incorporating graphics, photography, maps, and other unique content.

Trip director – An escort for an incentive company. Larger companies reserve this title for the person who directs all personnel and activities for a particular incentive trip.

Trundle Bed – Bed that stores itself under another bed, usually on casters. Often found in smaller hotel rooms or in cramped transport accommodations.

Turn – Airline parlance. A flight that leaves base and returns back to base in the same day. Also known as a turnaround.

Turnaway – A potential reservation that couldn’t be satisfied because the tour (or hotel, ship, etc.) was fully booked.

Twenty-four hour time – used extensively in Europe and other countries, 1pm becomes 1300 hours, 4pm is 1500 hours, etc., up to 2359 ( 1159pm ). Midnight is then considered 2400 or “zero ” hours. 1-20am is then 0120 or “one hour, twenty minutes “and so on. Most schedules and timetables in the majority of other countries are listed in the 24-hour format.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites – a UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place (such as a building, city, complex, desert, forest, island, lake, monument, or mountain) that is listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as being of special cultural or physical significance.

Unlimited mileage – No mileage restriction when renting a car.

Unrestricted fare – an airfare that has no special advance purchase, Saturday stay or certain days to travel requirements, and is usually refundable. Many full coach and most first-class fares are unrestricted. An airfare with no limitations. It is typically refundable and has no blackout days.

Upgrade – To move to a better accommodation or class of service.

USTOA – United States Tour Operators Association – a trade association which requires its members to be very financially stable and to have a million dollars or more in funds set aside for consumer protection against defaults. Visit www.ustoa.com for more information.

Value added tax (VAT) – a tax on goods in Europe, which under certain circumstances can be refunded.

Value season – similar to shoulder or low season, when pricing is lower. See off season.

Value – The relationship between the benefits associated with a product or service and the costs of obtaining the product or service. See also perceived value.

Value-added tax (VAT) – A type of tax system which adds a fixed percentage of taxation on products and services at each step of production or service delivery.

Value-based pricing – Pricing a product based on buyer perceptions of value rather than actual product costs.

Variable costs – Costs that change with sales or production levels.

Variance report – A summary of how much a company has gone above or below budget.

Verandah – a roofed-porch, such as connected to a cruise ship stateroom.

VIA rail – the Canadian railway system.

Villas – a large and luxurious country residence. A villa is a fancy vacation home. The word has been around ever since ancient Roman times to mean “country house for the elite.” In Italian, villa means “country house or farm.” Most villas include a large amount of land and often barns, garages, or other outbuildings as well.

VIP experiences – a VIP Experience is the most exclusive way to go behind the scenes or experience a travel destination, accommodation or mode of transportation.

Visa – usually a stamp in a passport allowing entry into a country for a specific purpose and a finite amount of time.

Visa service – a service that can expedite the processing of a visa, sometimes even at the last minute. A fee is charged that varies, depending on the nature of the service needed. Visas are usually stamped into the pages of a valid passport and are issued for varying reasons and periods of time. Not all countries require them, especially for United States Citizens.

Volume incentive – See override.

Volume purchase – The purchase of large quantities of a product or service.

Voucher – Documents that are exchanged for goods and service to substantiate payment that will be or already has been made.

Voyage – a voyage is a long journey involving travel by sea or in space.

Waitlist – A list of clients awaiting transportation or accommodations at times when they are not available. Waitlisted clients are confirmed as a result of subsequent cancellations.

Waiver – a written acknowledgement that a passenger has declined something, such as insurance coverage for a trip, for example. Also, the formal acknowledgement of the waiving or dismissal of a requirement, such as a waiver of a penalty for late booking, etc.

Waiver – A written acknowledgement that a passenger has declined something.

Walk-up – one who purchases an air ticket at the last moment, usually at the airport ticket counter.

Wants – Ways in which a person satisfies a basic need.

Wellness Travel – wellness travel is a category of travel for the purpose of promoting health and well-being through physical, psychological, or spiritual activities

Wet bar – the area of a hotel room that has a bar or other counter space with running water, used for the preparation of drinks.

Wholesale – Sale of travel products through an intermediary in exchange for a commission or fee generally at reduced tariffs.

Word-of-mouth promotion – Personal communication about a product or service from one customer to another.

World Travel Guide – a yearly publication that provides detailed information on most every country in the world, with entries on currency, transportation, climate, visa and passport requirements, sightseeing opportunities, etc. A primary book of knowledge for the professional travel agent.

Yield management – Calculating and analyzing the profits earned per customer.

World Travel Agency, LLC is owned and operated by Michael and Cheryl LaBaw. We are a husband and wife team dedicated to working together with our clients to insure they travel well. World Travel Agency, LLC is an independent affiliate of Andavo Travel, a Virtuoso® Member. Travel should be more than just a journey, it should be a series of unforgettable experiences. We work hard to ensure our clients’ trips are always stimulating, authentic and – above all else – fun... READ MORE

• Recent Blog Posts
• Luxury Ocean Cruise
• Luxury River Cruises
• Land Destinations
• Group Travel
• Corporate Travel
• Family Vacation
• Adventure Travel
• Celebrity Travel
• Travel Experience
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Hospitality Industry Glossary

Tap on the first letter of the hospitality term you’re looking for to shorten the list of definitions

• 30/30/30/10 rule for Social media
• 301 Redirect
• 302 Redirect
• Ad Extensions
• Ad Manager Account
• Adwords (Google Adwords)
• Algorithm Update
• ALT Average Lead Time
• Amplification Rate
• Anchor Text
• Anthropocentric Hotels
• API (Application Programming Interface)
• Applause Rate
• Arrived Conversion rate: Hotels
• Attribute-Based Pricing & Shopping
• Attribution
• Average Daily Rate (ADR)
• Average Length of Stay (ALOS)
• Average Position
• Best Available Rate
• Bounce Rate
• Breadcrumbs
• Rate Parity-broad rate parity
• Business Acumen
• Canonical Tag
• California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
• CDP - Customer Data Platform
• Channel Manager
• Closed to Arrival
• COGS-F&B
• Commissionable Rate
• Competition
• Competitive Advantage
• Conversion Rate
• Cost of Acquisition
• Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) Food & Beverage
• Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) Hotel rooms
• CPA (Cost Per Acquisition)
• CPC (Cost Per Click)
• CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization)
• CRS - Central Reservations System
• CTA (Call To Action)
• CTR (Click Through Rate)
• Customer Experience (CX)
• Customer Relationship Management
• CRM - Customer Relationship Management
• Customer Service vs Customer Experience
• Description Tag
• Digital Marketing
• Direct Traffic
• Display Ads
• Display Network
• Duplicate Content
• Dynamic Packaging
• Earned Media Value (EMV)
• Ecommerce (or E-Commerce)
• Email Automation
• External Link
• Facebook Ads Manager
• Facebook Business Page
• Featured Snippet
• Filter (Bubbles)
• First Party data
• Flow through
• Friendly URL
• Generative AI
• Ghost kitchen
• Global Distribution System
• Google AdWords
• Google Algorithm
• Google Analytics
• Google Maps
• Google My Business
• Google Partner Agency
• Google Reviews
• Google Search Console
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
• Gross Operating Profit Per Available Room
• Header Tags
• Hybrid Event
• Hybrid Hotels
• Impression Share
• Inbound Marketing
• Internet of Things (IoT)
• Keyword Density
• Keyword Phrase
• Keyword Priority
• Keyword Stuffing
• Knowledge graph/panel
• Knowledge Graph/Panel
• Knowledge Panel
• Landing Page
• Last Room Availability
• Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) Keywords
• Length of Stay pricing
• Link Profile
• Local 3-Pack
• Local Citation
• Local Search
• Long Tail Keyword
• Lookalike Audience
• Market Share
• Maximum Length of Stay
• Merchant Model
• Meta Description
• Meta Keywords
• Metasearch Engine (or aggregator)
• Metasearch Engine (or Aggregator)
• MICE in the Hospitality Industry
• Multi Channel Distribution
• Rate Parity-narrow rate parity
• Natural Language Generation [NLG]
• Net RevPAR (Net Revenue Per Available Room)
• Non-Fungible Token
• Online Reputation Management (ORM) for Hospitality
• Online Travel Agencies
• Onward Distribution
• Open Graph Tag
• Overselling or Overbooking
• Influencer Marketing
• Personalized Search Results
• Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
• Pick-up or Pace report
• Polling Module
• PPC bidding model
• PPC / Pay-Per-Click
• Predicting demand
• Press Kit or Media Kit
• Price Parity
• Product Parity
• ProPAR Profit Per Available Room
• Property Management System (PMS)
• Quality Score
• Rate Fences - applied to room pricing
• Readability
• Reciprocal Link
• Remarketing
• Responsive Web Design
• Retention Rate
• Revenue Generation Index
• Revenue Management
• Revenue Management System
• Revenue per Available Room
• Revenue per Available Space
• RevPAC = Revenue Per Available Customer
• RevPAM - Revenue Per Available square Metre
• Rich Snippets
• ROAS (Return On Ad Spend)
• ROI (Return On Investment)
• ROP - Restaurant Optimization Planning
• RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
• RTO: Regional Tourism Office
• Schema Markup
• Search Engine
• Search Network
• Second party data
• Self Sovereign Identity (SSI)
• SEM (Search Engine Marketing)
• SEO, Off-Page
• SEO, On-Page
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• SERP or Search Engine Results Page
• Search Engine Results Page (SERP)
• Social Selling
• Source Market
• Strategic Meetings Management Program [SMMP]
• Strategy vs Planning - what is the difference?
• Structured Data
• Tag, Canonical
• Tag, Description
• Tag, Header
• Tag, Open Graph
• Technocentric Hotels
• Thin Content
• Third-Party Data
• Total Revenue Management (TRM)
• Tracking Code
• Transient Travellers
• Trusted Advisor
• Twitter Advertising
• UBE - Universal Booking Engine/ Unified Booking Engine
• UNAP (URL, Name, Address, Phone Number)
• Unbundling and Bundling
• Unconstrained Demand
• Unique Visitors
• URL (Link) Shortener
• UX – (User Experience)
• Voice Search
• Webcast vs Webinar
• Yahoo! Advertising
• Yahoo! Search
• YouTube Advertising
• Zero based budgeting
• Certified Revenue Management Executive (CRME)
• Certified Hospitality Digital Marketer (CHDM)- Hotel
• Certified Hospitality Business Acumen (CHBA)
• Revenue Certificate Workshop Resources
• Template Job Descriptions, More slideshows & videos, whitepapers
• HSMAI Global Knowledge Center & Insights
• Singapore Residents Training Subsidy

Send us an email for any queries you have about HSMAI Academy and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Hospitality & Tourism Glossary

By Jason Morehouse

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The hospitality and tourism industry can be a complicated place to navigate, especially when dealing with large vendors and distributors. Here is a quick glossary of some of the more commonly used terms.

ABA American Bus Association; comprised of bus companies, operators and owners

Attendance Building Marketing and promotional programs designed to increase attendance at conventions, trade shows, meetings, and events.

Attractions General all-inclusive term travel industry marketers use to refer to products that have visitor appeal, like museums, historic sites, performing arts institutions, preservation districts, theme parks, entertainment and national sites.

AVHRM Association of Vacation Home Rental Managers.

Bed Tax (Transient Occupancy Tax of TOT) City or county tax added to the price of a hotel room.

Blocked Hotel rooms held without deposit

Booked Hotel rooms, airline tickets or other travel services held for a specific client.

Booking Term used to refer to a completed sale by a destination, convention center, facility, hotel or supplier (i.e. convention, meeting, trade show or group business booking).

Business Travel Travel for commercial, governmental or educational purposes with leisure as a secondary motivation.

Buyer A member of the travel trade who reserves room blocks from accommodations or coordinates the development of a travel product.

Carrier Any provider of mass transportation, usually used in reference to an airline.

Chambers of Commerce Typically, a Chamber of Commerce will specialize in local tourism promotion.

Charter Group Group travel in which a previously organized group travels together, usually on a custom itinerary.

C of C Chamber of Commerce

Commission A percent of the total product cost paid to travel agents and other travel product distributors for selling the product to the consumer. tourism marketing organizations specializing in developing conventions, meetings, conferences and visitations to a city, county or region.

Conventions and Trade Shows Major segment of travel industry business. Trade shows differ from conventions in that they have exhibit space that provides product exhibition and sales opportunities for suppliers, as well as information gathering and buying opportunities for customers.

Conversion Study Research study to analyze whether advertising respondents actually were converted to travelers as a result of advertising and follow-up material.

Co-op Advertising Advertising funded by two or more destinations and /or suppliers.

Cooperative Marketing Marketing programs involving two or more participating companies, institutions or organizations. tourism office by providing cash or in-kind contributions to expand the marketing impact of the tourism office’s program.

Cover Each diner at a restaurant.

CTRLA Car and Truck Rental and Leasing Association.

CVB Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Destination A hotel, resort, attraction, city, region, or state.

Destination Marketing Marketing a city, state, country, area or region to consumers and trade. tourism marketing organizations, such as convention and visitors bureaus or chambers of commerce.

Discounted Fare Negotiated air fare for convention, trade show, meeting, group and corporate travel.

Discover America Theme used by the Travel Industry Association and its marketing partners to market travel within the United States.

Fam Tours Organized trips for travel agents, tour operators, tour wholesalers or other members of the travel trade for the purpose of educating and familiarizing them with tourism destinations. By seeing the destinations where they are sending travelers, the travel trade is better prepared to answer customer questions and promote travel to the location. Also called fams or familiarization tours.

Feeder Airport/City An outlying city which feeds travelers to hubs or gateway cities.

FIT (Free Independent Travel) Individual travel in which a tour operator has previously arranged blocks of rooms at various destinations in advance for use by individual travelers. These travelers travel independently, not in a group, usually by rental car or public transportation.

Frequency The number of times an advertisement appears during a given campaign.

Fulfillment Servicing consumers and trade who request information as a result of advertising or promotional programs. Service often includes an 800 number, sales staff and distribution of materials.

Gateway or Gateway City A major airport, seaport, rail or bus center through which tourists and travelers enter from outside the region.

GIT (Groups Independent Travel) Group travel in which individuals purchase a group package in which they will travel with others along a pre-set itinerary.

Group Rate Negotiated hotel rate for convention, trade show, meeting, tour or incentive group.

Head in Beds Industry slang referring to the primary marketing objective of accommodations and most destinations – increasing the number of overnight stays.

Hospitality Industry Another term for the travel industry.

Hub An airport or city which serves as a central connecting point for aircraft, trains or buses from outlying feeder airports or cities.

Hub and Spoke Air carriers use of selected cities as hubs or connected points for service on their systems to regional destinations.

Icon A facility or landmark which is visually synonymous with a destination.

Incentive Travel Travel offered as a reward for top performance and the business that develops, markets and operates these programs.

Inclusive Tour A tour program that includes a variety of feature for a single rate (airfare, accommodations, sightseeing, performances, etc.)

International Marketing Marketing a destination, product or service to consumers and the trade outside the of the United States.

Leisure Travel Travel for recreational, educational, sightseeing, relaxing and other experiential purposes.

Market Share The percentage of business within a market category.

Market Volume The total number of travelers within a market category.

Mission (Sales) A promotional and sales trip coordinated by a state travel office, conventional and visitors bureau or key industry member to increase product awareness, sales and to enhance image. Target audiences may include tour operators, wholesales, incentive travel planners, travel agents, meeting planners, convention and trade show managers and media. Missions often cover several international or domestic destinations and include private and public sector participants. Mission components can include receptions, entertainment representatives of the destination, presentations and pre-scheduled sales and media calls.

Motorcoach Deluxe equipment used by most tour operators in group tour programs. Amenities include reclining seats, bathrooms, air conditioning, good lighting and refreshment availability.

Net Rate The rate provided to wholesalers and tour operators that can be marked up to sell to the customer.

No Show A customer with a reservation at a restaurant, hotel, etc. who fails to show up and does not cancel.

NTA National Tour Association, comprised of domestic tour operators.

Occupancies A percentage indicating the number of bed nights sold (compared to number available) in a hotel, resort, motel or destination.

Package A fixed price salable travel product that makes it easy for a traveler to buy and enjoy a destination or several destinations. Packages offer a mix of elements like transportation, accommodations, restaurants, entertainment, cultural activities, sightseeing and car rental.

Peaks and Valleys The high and low end of the travel season. Travel industry marketers plan programs to build consistent year-round business and event out the peaks and valleys.

Person Trip Visit Every time a person travels more than 100 miles (round-trip) in a day or stays overnight away from their primary domicile, whether for business or leisure purposes, they make one person trip visit.

Pow Wow The largest international travel marketplace held in the United States, sponsored by the Travel Industry Association of America.

Press/Publicity Release A news article or feature story written by the subject of the story for delivery and potential placement in the media.

Press Trips Organized trips for travel writers and broadcasters for the purpose of tourism destinations. Often, journalists travel tourism of a DMO.

Property A hotel, motel, inn, lodge or other accommodation facility.

Rack Rate The rate accommodations quote to the public. Group rates, convention, trade show, meeting and incentive travel rates are negotiated by the hotel and program organizers.

Reach The percentage of people within a specific target audience reached by an advertising campaign.

Receptive Operator Specialists in handling arrangements for incoming visitors at a destination including airport transfers, local sightseeing, restaurants, accommodations, etc. Receptive operators can be a travel agent or tour operator.

Repeat Business Business that continues to return, thereby generating increased profits.

Reservation Systems (Automation Vendors) Computerized systems leased to travel agencies offering airline, hotel, car rental and selected tour availability and bookings. Systems are affiliated with major carriers, including American (Sabre), United (Apollo), Eastern (System One), TWA (PARS), and Delta (DATAS II) and feature flight schedules of the sponsoring and other carriers, plus additional travel products.

Retail Agent A travel agent.

Retailer Another term for travel agents who sell travel products directly to consumers.

Room Double: No guarantee of two beds; Double Double: Two double beds (or two queens or kings); Twin: Two twin beds (or two doubles or queens)

Room Blocks Several rooms held for a group.

Sales Mission Where suppliers from one DMO travel together to another state of country for the purpose of collectively promoting travel to their area. Sales missions may include educational seminars for travel agents and tour operators.

Sales Seminar An educational session in which travel agents, tour operators, tour wholesales or other members of the travel trade congregate to receive briefings about tourism destinations.

Shells A marketing and sales promotional piece that depicts a destination, accommodation or attraction on the cover and provides space for copy to be added at a later date. Usually shells fit a number 10 envelope.

Site Inspection An assessment tour of a destination or facility by a meeting planner, convention or trade show manager, site selection committee, tour operator, wholesaler or incentive travel manager to see if it meets their needs and requirements prior to selecting a specific site for an event. After site selection, a site inspection may be utilized to make arrangements.

Spouse Program Special activities planned for those who accompany an attendee to a convention, trade show or meeting. Note that programs today are not simply for women, but rather for men and women, spouses and friends. Programs must be creatively designed to interest intelligent and curious audiences.

Supplier Those businesses that provide industry products like accommodations, transportation, car rentals, restaurants and attractions.

Target Audience/Market A specific demographic, sociographic target at which marketing communications are directed.

Target Rating Points TRPÕs are a statistical measurement which allows one to evaluate the relative impact of differing advertising campaigns.

Tariff Rate of fare quoted and published by a travel industry supplier (i.e. hotels, tour operators, etc.) Usually an annual tariff is produced in booklet form for use in sales calls at trade shows.

TIA Travel Industry Association of America.

TOT Transient Occupancy Tax.

Tour Operator Develops, markets and operates group travel programs that provide a complete travel experience for one price and includes transportation (airline, rail, motorcoach, and/or ship), accommodations, sightseeing, selected meals and an escort. Tour operators market directly to the consumer, through travel agents and are beginning to be listed on computerized reservation systems.

Tour Wholesaler An individual or company that sells tour packages and tour product to travel agents. Tour wholesalers usually receive a 20% discount from accommodations, transportation companies and attractions and pass on a 10 to 15% discount to the retail agent. Tourism

Tourist /Visitor /Traveler Any person who travels either for leisure or business purposes more than 100 miles round-trip in a day or who stays overnight away from his/her primary domicile.

Transient Occupancy Tax TOT or bed tax is a locally set tax on the cost of commercial accommodations and campgrounds.

Travel Leisure and other travel including travel for business, medical care, education, etc. tourism.

Travel Agent An individual who arranges travel for individuals or groups. Travel agents may be generalists or specialists (cruises, adventure travel, conventions and meetings.) The agents receive a 10 to 15% commission from accommodations, transportation companies and attractions for coordinating the booking of travel. They typically coordinate travel for their customers at the same or lower cost than if the customer booked the travel on his/her own.

Travel Product Refers to any product or service that is bought by or sold to consumers of trade including accommodations, attractions, events, restaurants, transportation, etc.

Travel Seasons Travel industry business cycles including: Peak: Primary travel season Off Peak: Period when business is slowest Shoulder: Period between peak and off peak periods when business is stronger, but has room for growth.

Travel Trade The collective term for tour operators, wholesalers and travel agents.

Traveler Definitions very, but in general a traveler is someone who leaves their own economic trade area, (usually going a distance of a minimum of fifty to one hundred miles) and stays overnight.

Visitors Center Travel information center located at a destination to make it easier for visitors to plan their stay; often operated by a convention and visitors bureau, chamber of tourism promotion organization.

Vouchers Forms or coupons provided to a traveler who purchases a tour that indicate that certain tour components have been prepaid. Vouchers are then exchanged for tour components like accommodations, meals, sightseeing, theater tickets, etc. during the actual trip.

Wholesaler Develop and markets inclusive tours and individual travel programs to the consumer through travel agents. Wholesalers do not sell directly to the public.

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UN Tourism | Bringing the world closer

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Glossary of tourism terms

Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes. These people are called visitors (which may be either tourists or excursionists; residents or non-residents) and tourism has to do with their activities, some of which involve tourism expenditure.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Activity/activities : In tourism statistics, the term activities represent the actions and behaviors of people in preparation for and during a trip in their capacity as consumers ( IRTS 2008, 1.2 ).

Activity (principal): The principal activity of a producer unit is the activity whose value added exceeds that of any other activity carried out within the same unit ( SNA 2008, 5.8 ).

Activity (productive): The (productive) activity carried out by a statistical unit is the type of production in which it engages. It has to be understood as a process, i.e. the combination of actions that result in a certain set of products. The classification of productive activities is determined by their principal output.

Administrative data : Administrative data is the set of units and data derived from an administrative source. This is a data holding information collected and maintained for the purpose of implementing one or more administrative regulations.

Adventure tourism : Adventure tourism is a type of tourism which usually takes place in destinations with specific geographic features and landscape and tends to be associated with a physical activity, cultural exchange, interaction and engagement with nature. This experience may involve some kind of real or perceived risk and may require significant physical and/or mental effort. Adventure tourism generally includes outdoor activities such as mountaineering, trekking, bungee jumping, rock climbing, rafting, canoeing, kayaking, canyoning, mountain biking, bush walking, scuba diving. Likewise, some indoor adventure tourism activities may also be practiced.

Aggregated data : The result of transforming unit level data into quantitative measures for a set of characteristics of a population.

Aggregation : A process that transforms microdata into aggregate-level information by using an aggregation function such as count, sum average, standard deviation, etc.

Analytical unit : Entity created by statisticians, by splitting or combining observation units with the help of estimations and imputations.

Balance of payments : The balance of payments is a statistical statement that summarizes transactions between residents and non-residents during a period. It consists of the goods and services account, the primary income account, the secondary income account, the capital account, and the financial account ( BPM6, 2.12 ).

Bias : An effect which deprives a statistical result of representativeness by systematically distorting it, as distinct from a random error which may distort on any one occasion but balances out on the average.

Business and professional purpose (of a tourism trip): The business and professional purpose of a tourism trip includes the activities of the self-employed and employees, as long as they do not correspond to an implicit or explicit employer-employee relationship with a resident producer in the country or place visited, those of investors, businessmen, etc. ( IRTS 2008, 3.17.2 ).

Business tourism : Business tourism is a type of tourism activity in which visitors travel for a specific professional and/or business purpose to a place outside their workplace and residence with the aim of attending a meeting, an activity or an event. The key components of business tourism are meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions. The term "meetings industry" within the context of business tourism recognizes the industrial nature of such activities. Business tourism can be combined with any other tourism type during the same trip.

Business visitor : A business visitor is a visitor whose main purpose for a tourism trip corresponds to the business and professional category of purpose ( IRTS 2008, 3.17.2 ).

Central Product Classification : The Central Product Classification (CPC) constitutes a complete product classification covering goods and services. It is intended to serve as an international standard for assembling and tabulating all kinds of data requiring product detail, including industrial production, national accounts, service industries, domestic and foreign commodity trade, international trade in services, balance of payments, consumption and price statistics. Other basic aims are to provide a framework for international comparison and promote harmonization of various types of statistics dealing with goods and services.

Census : A census is the complete enumeration of a population or groups at a point in time with respect to well defined characteristics: for example, Population, Production, Traffic on particular roads.

Coastal, maritime and inland water tourism : Coastal tourism refers to land-based tourism activities such as swimming, surfing, sunbathing and other coastal leisure, recreation and sports activities which take place on the shore of a sea, lake or river. Proximity to the coast is also a condition for services and facilities that support coastal tourism. Maritime tourism refers to sea-based activities such as cruising, yachting, boating and nautical sports and includes their respective land-based services and infrastructure. Inland water tourism refers to tourism activities such as cruising, yachting, boating and nautical sports which take place in aquatic- influenced environments located within land boundaries and include lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, groundwater, springs, cave waters and others traditionally grouped as inland wetlands.

Coherence : Adequacy of statistics to be combined in different ways and for various uses.

Competitiveness of a tourism destination : The competitiveness of a tourism destination is the ability of the destination to use its natural, cultural, human, man-made and capital resources efficiently to develop and deliver quality, innovative, ethical and attractive tourism products and services in order to achieve a sustainable growth within its overall vision and strategic goals, increase the added value of the tourism sector, improve and diversify its market components and optimize its attractiveness and benefits both for visitors and the local community in a sustainable perspective.

Consistency : Logical and numerical coherence.

Country of reference : The country of reference refers to the country for which the measurement is done. ( IRTS 2008, 2.15 ).

Country of residence : The country of residence of a household is determined according to the centre of predominant economic interest of its members. If a person resides (or intends to reside) for more than one year in a given country and has there his/her centre of economic interest (for example, where the predominant amount of time is spent), he/she is considered as a resident of this country.

Country-specific tourism characteristic products and activities : To be determined by each country by applying the criteria of IRTS 2008, 5.10 in their own context; for these products, the activities producing them will be considered as tourism characteristic, and the industries in which the principal activity is tourism-characteristic will be called tourism industries ( IRTS 2008, 5.16 ).

Cultural tourism : Cultural tourism is a type of tourism activity in which the visitor's essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience and consume the tangible and intangible cultural attractions/products in a tourism destination. These attractions/products relate to a set of distinctive material, intellectual, spiritual and emotional features of a society that encompasses arts and architecture, historical and cultural heritage, culinary heritage, literature, music, creative industries and the living cultures with their lifestyles, value systems, beliefs and traditions.

Data checking : Activity whereby the correctness conditions of the data are verified. It also includes the specification of the type of error or of the condition not met, and the qualification of the data and their division into "error-free data" and "erroneous data".

Data collection : Systematic process of gathering data for official statistics.

Data compilation : Operations performed on data to derive new information according to a given set of rules.

Data confrontation : The process of comparing data that has generally been derived from different surveys or other sources, especially those of different frequencies, in order to assess and possibly improve their coherency, and identify the reasons for any differences.

Data processing : Data processing is the operation performed on data by the organization, institute, agency, etc., responsible for undertaking the collection, tabulation, manipulation and preparation of data and metadata output.

Data reconciliation : The process of adjusting data derived from two different sources to remove, or at least reduce, the impact of differences identified.

Destination (main destination of a trip): The main destination of a tourism trip is defined as the place visited that is central to the decision to take the trip. See also purpose of a tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.31 ).

Destination management / marketing organization (DMO) : A destination management/marketing organization (DMO) is the leading organizational entity which may encompass the various authorities, stakeholders and professionals and facilitates tourism sector partnerships towards a collective destination vision. The governance structures of DMOs vary from a single public authority to a public/ private partnership model with the key role of initiating, coordinating and managing certain activities such as implementation of tourism policies, strategic planning, product development, promotion and marketing and convention bureau activities. The functions of the DMOs may vary from national to regional and local levels depending on the current and potential needs as well as on the decentralization level of public administration. Not every tourism destination has a DMO.

Documentation: Processes and procedures for imputation,  weighting,  confidentiality  and suppression rules, outlier treatment and data capture should be fully documented by the  survey provider.  Such documentation should be made available to at least  the body financing the survey.

Domestic tourism : Domestic tourism comprises the activities of a resident visitor within the country of reference, either as part of a domestic tourism trip or part of an outbound tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.39 ).

Domestic tourism consumption : Domestic tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of a resident visitor within the economy of reference ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Domestic tourism expenditure : Domestic tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a resident visitor within the economy of reference, (IRTS 2008, 4.15(a)).

Domestic tourism trip : A domestic tourism trip is one with a main destination within the country of residence of the visitor (IRTS 2008, 2.32).

Domestic visitor : As a visitor travels within his/her country of residence, he/she is a domestic visitor and his/her activities are part of domestic tourism.

Durable consumer goods : Durable consumer goods are goods that may be used repeatedly or continuously over a period of a year or more, assuming a normal or average rate of physical usage. When acquired by producers, these are considered to be capital goods used for production processes, as is the case of vehicles, computers, etc. When acquired by households, they are considered to be consumer durable goods ( TSA:RMF 2008, 2.39 ). This definition is identical to the definition of SNA 2008, 9.42 : A consumer durable is a goodthat may be used for purposes of consumption repeatedly or continuously over a period of a year or more.

Dwellings : Each household has a principal dwelling (sometimes also designated as main or primary home), usually defined with reference to time spent there, whose location defines the country of residence and place of usual residence of this household and of all its members. All other dwellings (owned or leased by the household) are considered secondary dwellings ( IRTS 2008, 2.26 ).

Ecotourism : Ecotourism is a type of nature-based tourism activity in which the visitor's essential motivation is to observe, learn, discover, experience and appreciate biological and cultural diversity with a responsible attitude to protect the integrity of the ecosystem and enhance the well-being of the local community. Ecotourism increases awareness towards the conservation of biodiversity, natural environment and cultural assets both among locals and the visitors and requires special management processes to minimize the negative impact on the ecosystem.

Economic analysis : Tourism generates directly and indirectly an increase in economic activity in the places visited (and beyond), mainly due to demand for goods and services thatneed to be produced and provided. In the economic analysis of tourism, one may distinguish between tourism's 'economic contribution' which refers to the direct effect of tourism and is measurable by means of the TSA, and tourism's 'economic impact' which is a much broader concept encapsulating the direct, indirect and induced effects of tourism and which must be estimated by applying models. Economic impact studies aim to quantify economic benefits, that is, the net increase in the wealth of residents resulting from tourism, measured in monetary terms, over and above the levels that would prevail in its absence.

Economic territory : The term "economic territory" is a geographical reference and points to the country for which the measurement is done (country of reference) ( IRTS 2008, 2.15 ).

Economically active population : The economically active population or labour force comprises all persons of either sex who furnish the supply of labour for the production of goods and services as defined by the system of national accounts during a specified time-reference period (ILO, Thirteenth ICLS, 6.18).

Economy (of reference): "Economy" (or "economy of reference") is an economic reference defined in the same way as in the balance of payments and in the system of national accounts: it refers to the economic agents that are resident in the country of reference ( IRTS 2008, 2.15 ).

Education tourism : Education tourism covers those types of tourism which have as a primary motivation the tourist's engagement and experience in learning, self-improvement, intellectual growth and skills development. Education Tourism represents a broad range of products and services related to academic studies, skill enhancement holidays, school trips, sports training, career development courses and language courses, among others.

Employees : Employees are all those workers who hold the type of job defined as "paid employment" (ILO, Fifteenth ICLS, pp. 20-22).

Employer-employee relationship : An employer-employee relationship exists when there is an agreement, which may be formal or informal, between an entity and an individual, normally entered into voluntarily by both parties, whereby the individual works for the entity in return for remuneration in cash or in kind ( BPM6, 11.11 ).

Employers : Employers are those workers who, working on their own account with one or more partners, hold the type of job defined as a "self-employment job" and, in this capacity, on a continuous basis (including the reference period) have engaged one or more persons to work for them in their business as "employee(s)" (ILO, Fifteenth ICLS, pp. 20-22).

Employment : Persons in employment are all persons above a specified age who, during a specified brief period, either one week or one day, were in paid employment or self-employment (OECD GST, p. 170).

Employment in tourism industries : Employment in tourism industries may be measured as a count of the persons employed in tourism industries in any of their jobs, as a count of the persons employed in tourism industries in their main job, or as a count of the jobs in tourism industries ( IRTS 2008, 7.9 ).

Enterprise : An enterprise is an institutional unit engaged in production of goods and/or services. It may be a corporation, a non-profit institution, or an unincorporated enterprise. Corporate enterprises and non-profit institutions are complete institutional units. An unincorporated enterprise, however, refers to an institutional unit —a household or government unit —only in its capacity as a producer of goods and services (OECD BD4, p. 232)

Establishment : An establishment is an enterprise, or part of an enterprise, that is situated in a single location and in which only a single productive activity is carried out or in which the principal productive activity accounts for most of the value added ( SNA 2008, 5.14 ).

Estimation : Estimation is concerned with inference about the numerical value of unknown population values from incomplete data such as a sample. If a single figure is calculated for each unknown parameter the process is called "point estimation". If an interval is calculated within which the parameter is likely, in some sense, to lie, the process is called "interval estimation".

Exports of goods and services : Exports of goods and services consist of sales, barter, or gifts or grants, of goods and services from residents to non-residents (OECD GST, p. 194)

Frame : A list, map or other specification of the units which define a population to be completely enumerated or sampled.

Forms of tourism : There are three basic forms of tourism: domestic tourism, inbound tourism, and outbound tourism. These can be combined in various ways to derive the following additional forms of tourism: internal tourism, national tourism and international tourism.

Gastronomy tourism :  Gastronomy tourism is a type of tourism activity which is characterized by the visitor's experience linked with food and related products and activities while travelling. Along with authentic, traditional, and/or innovative culinary experiences, Gastronomy Tourism may also involve other related activities such as visiting the local producers, participating in food festivals and attending cooking classes. Eno-tourism (wine tourism), as a sub-type of gastronomy tourism, refers to tourism whose purpose is visiting vineyards, wineries, tasting, consuming and/or purchasing wine, often at or near the source.

Goods : Goods are physical, produced objects for which a demand exists, over which ownership rights can be established and whose ownership can be transferred from one institutional unit to another by engaging in transactions on markets ( SNA 2008, p. 623 ).

Gross fixed capital formation : Gross fixed capital formation is defined as the value of institutional units' acquisitions less disposals of fixed assets. Fixed assets are produced assets (such as machinery, equipment, buildings or other structures) that are used repeatedly or continuously in production over several accounting periods (more than one year) ( SNA 2008, 1.52 ).

Gross margin : The gross margin of a provider of reservation services is the difference between the value at which the intermediated service is sold and the value accrued to the provider of reservation services for this intermediated service.

Gross value added : Gross value added is the value of output less the value of intermediate consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, 3.32 ).

Gross value added of tourism industries : Gross value added of tourism industries (GVATI) is the total gross value added of all establishments belonging to tourism industries, regardless of whether all their output is provided to visitors and the degree of specialization of their production process ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.86 ).

Grossing up : Activity aimed at transforming, based on statistical methodology, micro-data from samples into aggregate-level information representative of the target population.

Health tourism : Health tourism covers those types of tourism which have as a primary motivation, the contribution to physical, mental and/or spiritual health through medical and wellness-based activities which increase the capacity of individuals to satisfy their own needs and function better as individuals in their environment and society. Health tourism is the umbrella term for the subtypes wellness tourism and medical tourism.

Imputation : Procedure for entering a value for a specific data item where the response is missing or unusable.

Inbound tourism : Inbound tourism comprises the activities of a non-resident visitor within the country of reference on an inbound tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.39 ).

Inbound tourism consumption : Inbound tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of a non-resident visitor within the economy of reference ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Inbound tourism expenditure : Inbound tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a non-resident visitor within the economy of reference ( IRTS 2008, 4.15(b) ).

Innovation in tourism : Innovation in tourism is the introduction of a new or improved component which intends to bring tangible and intangible benefits to tourism stakeholders and the local community, improve the value of the tourism experience and the core competencies of the tourism sector and hence enhance tourism competitiveness and /or sustainability. Innovation in tourism may cover potential areas, such as tourism destinations, tourism products, technology, processes, organizations and business models, skills, architecture, services, tools and/or practices for management, marketing, communication, operation, quality assurance and pricing.

Institutional sector : An aggregation of institutional units on the basis of the type of producer and depending on their principal activity and function, which are considered to be indicative of their economic behaviour.

Institutional unit : The elementary economic decision-making centre characterised by uniformity of behaviour and decision-making autonomy in the exercise of its principal function.

Intermediate consumption : Intermediate consumption consists of the value of the goods and services consumed as inputs by a process of production, excluding fixed assets whose consumption is recorded as consumption of fixed capital ( SNA 2008, 6.213 ).

Internal tourism : Internal tourism comprises domestic tourism and inbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident and non-resident visitors within the country of reference as part of domestic or international tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.40(a) ).

Internal tourism consumption : Internal tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of both resident and non-resident visitors within the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism consumption and inbound tourism consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Internal tourism expenditure : Internal tourism expenditure comprises all tourism expenditure of visitors, both resident and non-resident, within the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism expenditure and inbound tourism expenditure. It includes acquisition of goods and services imported into the country of reference and sold to visitors. This indicator provides the most comprehensive measurement of tourism expenditure in the economy of reference ( IRTS 2008, 4.20(a) ).

International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities : The International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) consists of a coherent and consistent classification structure of economic activities based on a set of internationally agreed concepts, definitions, principles and classification rules. It provides a comprehensive framework within which economic data can be collected and reported in a format that is designed for purposes of economic analysis, decision-taking and policymaking. The classification structure represents a standard format to organize detailed information about the state of an economy according to economic principles and perceptions (ISIC, Rev.4, 1).

International tourism : International tourism comprises inbound tourism and outbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident visitors outside the country of reference, either as part of domestic or outbound tourism trips and the activities of non-resident visitors within the country of reference on inbound tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.40(c) ).

International visitor : An international traveller qualifies as an international visitor with respect to the country of reference if: (a) he/she is on a tourism trip and (b) he/she is a non-resident travelling in the country of reference or a resident travelling outside of it ( IRTS 2008, 2.42 ).

Job : The agreement between an employee and the employer defines a job and each self-employed person has a job ( SNA 2008, 19.30 ).

Measurement error : Error in reading, calculating or recording numerical value.

Medical tourism : Medical tourism is a type of tourism activity which involves the use of evidence-based medical healing resources and services (both invasive and non-invasive). This may include diagnosis, treatment, cure, prevention and rehabilitation.

Meetings industry : To highlight purposes relevant to the meetings industry, if a trip's main purpose is business/professional, it can be further subdivided into "attending meetings, conferences or congresses, trade fairs and exhibitions" and "other business and professional purposes". The term meetings industry is preferred by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and Reed Travel over the acronym MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) which does not recognize the industrial nature of such activities.

Metadata : Data that defines and describes other data and processes.

MICE : See meetings industry.

Microdata : Non-aggregated observations, or measurements of characteristics of individual units.

Mirror statistics : Mirror statistics are used to conduct bilateral comparisons of two basic measures of a trade flow and are a traditional tool for detecting the causes of asymmetries in statistics (OECD GST, p. 335).

Mountain tourism : Mountain tourism is a type of tourism activity which takes place in a defined and limited geographical space such as hills or mountains with distinctive characteristics and attributes that are inherent to a specific landscape, topography, climate, biodiversity (flora and fauna) and local community. It encompasses a broad range of outdoor leisure and sports activities.

National tourism : National tourism comprises domestic tourism and outbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident visitors within and outside the country of reference, either as part of domestic or outbound tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.40(b) ).

National tourism consumption : National tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of resident visitors, within and outside the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism consumption and outbound tourism consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

National tourism expenditure : National tourism expenditure comprises all tourism expenditure of resident visitors within and outside the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism expenditure and outbound tourism expenditure ( IRTS 2008, 4.20(b) ).

Nationality : The concept of "country of residence" of a traveller is different from that of his/her nationality or citizenship ( IRTS 2008, 2.19 ).

Non-monetary indicators : Data measured in physical or other non-monetary units should not be considered a secondary part of a satellite account. They are essential components, both for the information they provide directly and in order to analyse the monetary data adequately ( SNA 2008, 29.84 ).

Observation unit : entity on which information is received and statistics are compiled.

Outbound tourism : Outbound tourism comprises the activities of a resident visitor outside the country of reference, either as part of an outbound tourism trip or as part of a domestic tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.39(c) ).

Outbound tourism consumption : Outbound tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of a resident visitor outside the economy of reference ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Outbound tourism expenditure : Outbound tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a resident visitor outside the economy of reference ( IRTS 2008, 4.15(c) ).

Output : Output is defined as the goods and services produced by an establishment, a) excluding the value of any goods and services used in an activity for which the establishment does not assume the risk of using the products in production, and b) excluding the value of goods and services consumed by the same establishment except for goods and services used for capital formation (fixed capital or changes in inventories) or own final consumption ( SNA 2008, 6.89 ).

Output (main): The main output of a (productive) activity should be determined by reference to the value added of the goods sold or services rendered (ISIC rev.4, 114).

Pilot survey : The aim of a pilot survey is to test the questionnaire (pertinence of the questions, understanding of questions by those being interviewed, duration of the interview) and to check various potential sources for sampling and non-sampling errors: for instance, the place in which the surveys are carried out and the method used, the identification of any omitted answers and the reason for the omission, problems of communicating in various languages, translation, the mechanics of data collection, the organization of field work, etc.

Place of usual residence : The place of usual residence is the geographical place where the enumerated person usually resides, and is defined by the location of his/her principal dwelling (Principles and recommendations for population and housing censuses of the United Nations, 2.20 to 2.24).

Probability sample : A sample selected by a method based on the theory of probability (random process), that is, by a method involving knowledge of the likelihood of any unit being selected.

Production account : The production account records the activity of producing goods and services as defined within the SNA. Its balancing item, gross value added, is defined as the value of output less the value of intermediate consumption and is a measure of the contribution to GDP made by an individual producer, industry or sector. Gross value added is the source from which the primary incomes of the SNA are generated and is therefore carried forward into the primary distribution of income account. Value added and GDP may also be measured net by deducting consumption of fixed capital, a figure representing the decline in value during the period of the fixed capital used in a production process ( SNA 2008, 1.17 ).

Production : Economic production may be defined as an activity carried out under the control and responsibility of an institutional unit that uses inputs of labour, capital, and goods and services to produce outputs of goods or services ( SNA 2008, 6.24. ).

Purpose of a tourism trip (main): The main purpose of a tourism trip is defined as the purpose in the absence of which the trip would not have taken place ( IRTS 2008, 3.10. ). Classification of tourism trips according to the main purpose refers to nine categories: this typology allows the identification of different subsets of visitors (business visitors, transit visitors, etc.) See also destination of a tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 3.14 ).

Quality of a tourism destination : Quality of a tourism destination is the result of a process which implies the satisfaction of all tourism product and service needs, requirements and expectations of the consumer at an acceptable price, in conformity with mutually accepted contractual conditions and the implicit underlying factors such as safety and security, hygiene, accessibility, communication, infrastructure and public amenities and services. It also involves aspects of ethics, transparency and respect towards the human, natural and cultural environment. Quality, as one of the key drivers of tourism competitiveness, is also a professional tool for organizational, operational and perception purposes for tourism suppliers.

Questionnaire and Questionnaire design : Questionnaire is a group or sequence of questions designed to elicit information on a subject, or sequence of subjects, from a reporting unit or from another producer of official statistics. Questionnaire design is the design (text, order, and conditions for skipping) of the questions used to obtain the data needed for the survey.

Reference period : The period of time or point in time to which the measured observation is intended to refer.

Relevance : The degree to which statistics meet current and potential users' needs.

Reliability : Closeness of the initial estimated value to the subsequent estimated value.

Reporting unit : Unit that supplies the data for a given survey instance, like a questionnaire or interview. Reporting units may, or may not, be the same as the observation unit.

Residents/non-residents : The residents of a country are individuals whose centre of predominant economic interest is located in its economic territory. For a country, the non-residents are individuals whose centre of predominant economic interest is located outside its economic territory.

Response and non-response : Response and non-response to various elements of a survey entail potential errors.

Response error : Response errors may be defined as those arising from the interviewing process. Such errors may be due to a number of circumstances, such as inadequate concepts or questions; inadequate training; interviewer failures; respondent failures.

Rural tourism : Rural tourism is a type of tourism activity in which the visitor's experience is related to a wide range of products generally linked to nature-based activities, agriculture, rural lifestyle / culture, angling and sightseeing. Rural tourism activities take place in non-urban (rural) areas with the following characteristics:

• Low population density;
• Landscape and land-use dominated by agriculture and forestry; and
• Traditional social structure and lifestyle

Same-day visitor (or excursionist): A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise ( IRTS 2008, 2.13 ).

Sample : A subset of a frame where elements are selected based on a process with a known probability of selection.

Sample survey : A survey which is carried out using a sampling method.

Sampling error : That part of the difference between a population value and an estimate thereof, derived from a random sample, which is due to the fact that only a subset of the population is enumerated.

Satellite accounts : There are two types of satellite accounts, serving two different functions. The first type, sometimes called an internal satellite, takes the full set of accounting rules and conventions of the SNA but focuses on a particular aspect of interest by moving away from the standard classifications and hierarchies. Examples are tourism, coffee production and environmental protection expenditure. The second type, called an external satellite, may add non-economic data or vary some of the accounting conventions or both. It is a particularly suitable way to explore new areas in a research context. An example may be the role of volunteer labour in the economy ( SNA 2008, 29.85 ).

SDMX, Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange : Set of technical standards and content-oriented guidelines, together with an IT architecture and tools, to be used for the efficient exchange and sharing of statistical data and metadata (SDMX).

Seasonal adjustment : Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique to remove the effects of seasonal calendar influences on a series. Seasonal effects usually reflect the influence of the seasons themselves, either directly or through production series related to them, or social conventions. Other types of calendar variation occur as a result of influences such as number of days in the calendar period, the accounting or recording practices adopted or the incidence of moving holidays.

Self-employment job : Self-employment jobs are those jobs where remuneration is directly dependent upon the profits (or the potential of profits) derived from the goods or services produced.

Self-employed with paid employees : Self-employed with paid employees are classified as employers.

Self-employed without employees : Self-employed without employees are classified as own-account workers.

Services : Services are the result of a production activity that changes the conditions of the consuming units, or facilitates the exchange of products or financial assets. They cannot be traded separately from their production. By the time their production is completed, they must have been provided to the consumers ( SNA 2008, 6.17 ).

Social transfers in kind : A special case of transfers in kind is that of social transfers in kind. These consist of goods and services provided by general government and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISHs) that are delivered to individual households. Health and education services are the prime examples. Rather than provide a specified amount of money to be used to purchase medical and educational services, the services are often provided in kind to make sure that the need for the services is met. (Sometimes the recipient purchases the service and is reimbursed by the insurance or assistance scheme. Such a transaction is still treated as being in kind because the recipient is merely acting as the agent of the insurance scheme) (SNA 2008, 3.83).

Sports tourism : Sports tourism is a type of tourism activity which refers to the travel experience of the tourist who either observes as a spectator or actively participates in a sporting event generally involving commercial and non-commercial activities of a competitive nature.

Standard classification : Classifications that follow prescribed rules and are generally recommended and accepted.

Statistical error : The unknown difference between the retained value and the true value.

Statistical indicator : A data element that represents statistical data for a specified time, place, and other characteristics, and is corrected for at least one dimension (usually size) to allow for meaningful comparisons.

Statistical metadata : Data about statistical data.

Statistical unit : Entity about which information is sought and about which statistics are compiled. Statistical units may be identifiable legal or physical entities or statistical constructs.

Survey : An investigation about the characteristics of a given population by means of collecting data from a sample of that population and estimating their characteristics through the systematic use of statistical methodology.

System of National Accounts : The System of National Accounts (SNA) is the internationally agreed standard set of recommendations on how to compile measures of economic activity in accordance with strict accounting conventions based on economic principles. The recommendations are expressed in terms of a set of concepts, definitions, classifications and accounting rules that comprise the internationally agreed standard for measuring indicators of economic performance. The accounting framework of the SNA allows economic data to be compiled and presented in a format that is designed for purposes of economic analysis, decision-taking and policymaking ( SNA 2008, 1.1 ).

Total tourism internal demand : Total tourism internal demand, is the sum of internal tourism consumption, tourism gross fixed capital formation and tourism collective consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.114 ). It does not include outbound tourism consumption.

Tourism : Tourism refers to the activity of visitors ( IRTS 2008, 2.9 ).

Tourism characteristic activities : Tourism characteristic activities are the activities that typically produce tourism characteristic products. As the industrial origin of a product (the ISIC industry that produces it) is not a criterion for the aggregation of products within a similar CPC category, there is no strict one-to-one relationship between products and the industries producing them as their principal outputs ( IRTS 2008, 5.11 ).

Tourism characteristic products : Tourism characteristic products are those that satisfy one or both of the following criteria: a) Tourism expenditure on the product should represent a significant share total tourism expenditure (share-of-expenditure/demand condition); b) Tourism expenditure on the product should represent a significant share of the supply of the product in the economy (share-of-supply condition). This criterion implies that the supply of a tourism characteristic product would cease to exist in meaningful quantity in the absence of visitors ( IRTS 2008, 5.10 ).

Tourism connected products : Their significance within tourism analysis for the economy of reference is recognized although their link to tourism is very limited worldwide. Consequently, lists of such products will be country-specific ( IRTS 2008, 5.12 ).

Tourism consumption : Tourism consumption has the same formal definition as tourism expenditure. Nevertheless, the concept of tourism consumption used in the Tourism Satellite Account goes beyond that of tourism expenditure. Besides the amount paid for the acquisition of consumption goods and services, as well as valuables for own use or to give away, for and during tourism trips, which corresponds to monetary transactions (the focus of tourism expenditure), it also includes services associated with vacation accommodation on own account, tourism social transfers in kind and other imputed consumption. These transactions need to be estimated using sources different from information collected directly from the visitors, such as reports on home exchanges, estimations of rents associated with vacation homes, calculations of financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM), etc. ( TSA:RMF 2008, 2.25 ).

Tourism destination : A tourism destination is a physical space with or without administrative and/or analytical boundaries in which a visitor can spend an overnight. It is the cluster (co-location) of products and services, and of activities and experiences along the tourism value chain and a basic unit of analysis of tourism. A destination incorporates various stakeholders and can network to form larger destinations. It is also intangible with its image and identity which may influence its market competitiveness.

Tourism direct gross domestic product : Tourism direct gross domestic product (TDGDP) is the sum of the part of gross value added (at basic prices) generated by all industries in response to internal tourism consumption plus the amount of net taxes on products and imports included within the value of this expenditure at purchasers' prices ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.96 ).

Tourism direct gross value added : Tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA) is the part of gross value added generated by tourism industries and other industries of the economy that directly serve visitors in response to internal tourism consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.88 ).

Tourism expenditure : Tourism expenditure refers to the amount paid for the acquisition of consumption goods and services, as well as valuables, for own use or to give away, for and during tourism trips. It includes expenditures by visitors themselves, as well as expenses that are paid for or reimbursed by others ( IRTS 2008, 4.2 ).

Tourism industries : The tourism industries comprise all establishments for which the principal activity is a tourism characteristic activity. Tourism industries (also referred to as tourism activities) are the activities that typically producetourism characteristic products. The term tourism industries is equivalent to tourism characteristic activities and the two terms are sometimes used synonymously in the IRTS 2008, 5.10, 5.11 and figure 5.1 .

Tourism product : A tourism product is a combination of tangible and intangible elements, such as natural, cultural and man-made resources, attractions, facilities, services and activities around a specific center of interest which represents the core of the destination marketing mix and creates an overall visitor experience including emotional aspects for the potential customers. A tourism product is priced and sold through distribution channels and it has a life-cycle.

Tourism ratio : For each variable of supply in the Tourism Satellite Account, the tourism ratiois the ratio between the total value of tourism share and total value of the corresponding variable in the Tourism Satellite Account expressed in percentage form ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.56 ). (See also Tourism share).

Tourism Satellite Account : The Tourism Satellite Account is the second international standard on tourism statistics (Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework 2008 –TSA:RMF 2008) that has been developed in order to present economic data relative to tourism within a framework of internal and external consistency with the rest of the statistical system through its link to the System of National Accounts. It is the basic reconciliation framework of tourism statistics. As a statistical tool for the economic accounting of tourism, the TSA can be seen as a set of 10 summary tables, each with their underlying data and representing a different aspect of the economic data relative to tourism: inbound, domestic tourism and outbound tourism expenditure, internal tourism expenditure, production accounts of tourism industries, the Gross Value Added (GVA) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) attributable to tourism demand, employment, investment, government consumption, and non-monetary indicators.

Tourism Satellite Account aggregates : The compilation of the following aggregates, which represent a set of relevant indicators of the size of tourism in an economy is recommended ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.81 ):

• Internal tourism expenditure;
• Internal tourism consumption;
• Gross value added of tourism industries (GVATI);
• Tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA);
• Tourism direct gross domestic product (TDGDP).

Tourism sector : The tourism sector, as contemplated in the TSA, is the cluster of production units in different industries that provide consumption goods and services demanded by visitors. Such industries are called tourism industries because visitor acquisition represents such a significant share of their supply that, in the absence of visitors, their production of these would cease to exist in meaningful quantity.

Tourism share : Tourism share is the share of the corresponding fraction of internal tourism consumption in each component of supply ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.51 ). For each industry, the tourism share of output (in value), is the sum of the tourism share corresponding to each product component of its output ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.55 ). (See also Tourism ratio ).

Tourism single-purpose consumer durable goods : Tourism single-purpose consumer durables is a specific category of consumer durable goods that include durable goods that are used exclusively, or almost exclusively, by individuals while on tourism trips ( TSA:RMF 2008 , 2.41 and Annex 5 ).

Tourism trip : Trips taken by visitors are tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.29 ).

Tourist (or overnight visitor): A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise ( IRTS 2008, 2.13 ).

Tourism value chain : The tourism value chain is the sequence of primary and support activities which are strategically fundamental for the performance of the tourism sector. Linked processes such as policy making and integrated planning, product development and packaging, promotion and marketing, distribution and sales and destination operations and services are the key primary activities of the tourism value chain. Support activities involve transport and infrastructure, human resource development, technology and systems development and other complementary goods and services which may not be related to core tourism businesses but have a high impact on the value of tourism.

Travel / traveller : Travel refers to the activity of travellers. A traveller is someone who moves between different geographic locations, for any purpose and any duration ( IRTS 2008, 2.4 ). The visitor is a particular type of traveller and consequently tourism is a subset of travel.

Travel group : A travel group is made up of individuals or travel parties travelling together: examples are people travelling on the same package tour or youngsters attending a summer camp ( IRTS 2008, 3.5 ).

Travel item (in balance of payments): Travel is an item of the goods and services account of the balance of payments: travel credits cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from an economy by non-residents during visits to that economy. Travel debits cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from other economies by residents during visits to other economies ( BPM6, 10.86 ).

Travel party : A travel party is defined as visitors travelling together on a trip and whose expenditures are pooled ( IRTS 2008, 3.2 ).

Trip : A trip refers to the travel by a person from the time of departure from his/her usual residence until he/she returns: it thus refers to a round trip. Trips taken by visitors are tourism trips.

Urban/city tourism : Urban/city tourism is a type of tourism activity which takes place in an urban space with its inherent attributes characterized by non-agricultural based economy such as administration, manufacturing, trade and services and by being nodal points of transport. Urban/city destinations offer a broad and heterogeneous range of cultural, architectural, technological, social and natural experiences and products for leisure and business.

Usual environment: The usual environment of an individual, a key concept in tourism, is defined as the geographical area (though not necessarily a contiguous one) within which an individual conducts his/her regular life routines ( IRTS 2008, 2.21 ).

Usual residence : The place of usual residence is the geographical place where the enumerated person usually resides (Principles and recommendations for population and housing censuses of the United Nations, 2.16 to 2.18).

Vacation home : A vacation home (sometimes also designated as a holiday home) is a secondary dwelling that is visited by the members of the household mostly for purposes of recreation, vacation or any other form of leisure ( IRTS 2008, 2.27 ).

Valuables : Valuables are produced goods of considerable value that are not used primarily for purposes of production or consumption but are held as stores of value over time ( SNA 2008, 10.13 ).

Visit : A trip is made up of visits to different places.The term "tourism visit" refers to a stay in a place visited during a tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.7 and 2.33 ).

Visitor : A visitor is a traveller taking a trip to a main destination outside his/her usual environment, for less than a year, for any main purpose (business, leisure or other personal purpose) other than to be employed by a resident entity in the country or place visited ( IRTS 2008, 2.9 ). A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise ( IRTS 2008, 2.13 ).

Wellness tourism : Wellness tourism is a type of tourism activity which aims to improve and balance all of the main domains of human life including physical, mental, emotional, occupational, intellectual and spiritual. The primary motivation for the wellness tourist is to engage in preventive, proactive, lifestyle-enhancing activities such as fitness, healthy eating, relaxation, pampering and healing treatments.

Articles Glossary of hotel industry terminology

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Here’s a handy glossary with hotel industry terminology, business jargon and technological terms to help you understand your products and services. 06/05/2022 • Article

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Here’s a handy glossary with hotel industry terminology, business jargon and technological terms to help you understand your products and services.

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Travel and Tourism Terms, Acronyms & Abbreviations

Every industry has its language; can you talk tourism.

We abbreviate words or phrases to save time, effort or space. This is great, but if you don’t know what the acronym or abbreviation stands for, it may feel like people are speaking a different language. For those of us in the tourism industry, like many others, we use a wide array of abbreviations and/or acronyms. Below are 21 travel and tourism terms used frequently.

Jump to a section: A-D F-G I-N M-T

Travel and Tourism Terms

Accessible:  Usable by all people . Whether a hotel, restaurant, or attraction can by enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities, regardless of physical or other limitations.

Assets: The attractions, hotels and restaurants within a given region . Assets are what that area has to offer guests who visit.

Buyers: Travel Trade professionals who sell to consumers . They are tour operators, receptive operators, travel agents and OTAs (online travel agents). They look for destinations and attractions to package and sell to their customers.

CVB :  Convention and Visitors Bureau.  Primarily the same thing as a DMO or TPA (see below).

DMO: Destination Marketing Organization.  A destination marketing organization is an entity that promotes a town, city, region, or country to increase visitation. It promotes the development and marketing of a destination, focusing on convention sales, tourism marketing, and services. The primary goals of a DMO are to create and implement strategic marketing plans around tourism, to bring local tourism businesses together and to help them work collectively. This transforms a set of attractions, activities and services into a cohesive and compelling travel experience. For example, Break the Ice Media works with several DMOs, including Cayuga County Office of Tourism , Genesee County Office of Tourism and Visit Syracuse .

Implement strategic marketing plans

FAM : Familiarization Tour . FAMs are marketing initiatives, inviting either media or travel trade professionals to tour a region or destination . Experiencing it helps them write about it or sell it as a product to their customers.  The activities on a FAM are typically shorter than what the actual visitor experiences. They provide a sampling of what is offered.

FIT:  Foreign Independent Traveler .  An international family or small group travelling to the USA. They arrive by airplane and usually rent cars for transportation.

Fly drive:  A v acation package that includes air transportation and a rental car . Many international tourists (FITs) prefer to buy these types of packages to explore a destination.

Front-line staff:   People who interact with and give service to customers, guests and visitors. For example, front desk staff at a hotel or a cashier at an attraction.

Group Leader:   The p erson who accompanies and/or leads the people on a group tour . They work for the Group Tour Operator who sells the tour.

Group Tour Operator: A person who puts together vacation packages for groups .  They sell these packages as products to consumers. They also fit into the category of Buyers.

Tourism generated by visitors from foreign countries

Inbound operators:   Agencies that specialize in providing tour packages to international travelers visiting the United States.  Also known as Receptive Operators. Travel agents from foreign countries will work with an inbound receptive operator to find a travel package that suits their customers. A couple of examples are TourMappers and ATI , who we’ve worked with.

Inbound Tourism:   Tourism generated by visitors from foreign countries .  This does not include domestic travel like visitors from drive markets and in-state visitors.

Itinerary:  The planned route for a trip.  This is what travel trade professionals sell to their customers. It’s a pre-planned experience with where to go, when, and what to expect when you get there.

Motorcoach:   Large passenger bus.  This is the vehicle most often used for people travelling with group travel tours.

Net Rate:   Hotel room inventory sold via a third-party distributor at prices subject to commission. The  Net Rate  is the price for a hotel room without the commission of the third-party distributor. These distributors could be a travel agent, receptive operator or online travel agent. (See also, Rack Rate)

Create Itineraries for Foreign Independent Travelers

Partners:  The people who own or manage the assets of a region.  These partners work closely with their region’s DMO and benefit from tourism dollars spent at their establishments.

Rack Rate:   Standard daily rate established for hotel rooms.  This rate is typically public, printed on hotel brochures and listed on websites.

Suppliers: Tourism or Travel professionals who sell to businesses aka Buyers . They sell B2B (that means business to business). They work with tourism companies to promote their attraction or destination.

TPA: Tourism Promotion Agency. This is basically the same thing as a DMO. A government agency that promotes tourism in a specific county or region within a state.

Travel Advisor: Someone who assists consumers in booking trips. Previously called travel agents, travel advisors do more than book travel for people. The term agent switched to advisor to demonstrate how these professionals coordinate trips and help groups, families or individuals plan and book their travel.

Rhonda Carges

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Collaboration Toolkit

Our first research study confirmed that collaboration is a constant in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. It is not a matter of if, but when and how, organizations will collaborate together. Our latest study reveals how organizations are putting collaboration into operation and how they are setting up systems and processes so that collaboration becomes a strategic part of the organization.

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• HSMAI Global

108 Terms Every Hotel Sales Professional Needs to Know

Can you define the term “displacement analysis” off the top of your head? What about “EBITA” or “FFO”?

As silos in hotel organizations continue to erode, and as sales professionals engage at a higher level with owners, asset managers, GMs, revenue management teams, and marketers, they are increasingly expected to demonstrate their knowledge of the sales discipline as well as operations and other functions. If you want to further your career in hotel sales, you need to brush up on your business acumen. One easy way to do that is to sharpen your understanding of the acronyms, jargon, and terminology used in and around the business of hotels. It will help you strengthen your skills, build your reputation as a knowledgeable team member, and form the foundation for your future success.

Check out the list of terms that HSMAI’s Sales Advisory Board identified as being crucial for every hotel sales professional to know.

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A Dictionary of Travel and Tourism  

Allan beaver.

Over 6,500 entries

Provides over 6,500 definitions of travel and tourism terminology, including the operating language of the travel industry, acronyms of organizations, associations, and trade bodies, IT terms, and brand names. Completely up to date, this dictionary covers the implications of web technology and social media on the travel and tourism industry, as well as new products and services, such as e-tickets, home-based travel agents, awareness amongst consumers and within the industry of terror-threatened travel, recent changes in legislation, and environmental concerns.

Useful appendices include the World Tourism Organization Global Code of Ethics for Tourism , the recommended tourism syllabus content for Higher Education courses worldwide, and a list of the EC Neutral Computerized Reservation System Rules . Providing a wealth of information on one of the fastest-growing global industries of the 21st century, this dictionary is the ideal point of reference for students taking travel, tourism, and hospitality courses, as well as professionals working within these areas.

Bibliographic Information

Affiliations are at time of print publication..

Allan Beaver is an expert in the fields of travel and tourism, and is Visiting Professor at Bournemouth University and Director of Beaver Travel . Previous publications include Mind Your Own Travel Business (1993), Travel Agency Layout, Equipment and Design (1989), and Air Fares Guide (1995).

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Front matter, publishing information, general links for this work, introduction, recommended tourism syllabus content for higher education courses, ec computer reservation system rules, acknowledgements.

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date: 25 April 2024

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eBook: The ultimate travel and tourism glossary

By Rezdy — 1 Mar 2023

The ultimate travel and tourism glossary

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