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OTA, CRS, FIT, OCC, REVPAR, POS, GDS, F&B, PMS, CRM, POS, LMFAO
As requested by Gwaenynog B&B today's blog is a glossary of terms that large hotels tend to use. The most difficult to get your head around are the ones relating to tech travel industry, that are worth knowing if you are dealing with third party channels. I hope you find them useful, if you don't agree with any or feel I have missed out on anything then please feel free to comment. While browsing definitions I came across this darts term which I found interesting! Breakfast (or Bed N Breakfast) A score of 26 made up of a single five, single 20 and single one which comes from the typical price of a bed-and-breakfast in times gone by: 2 shillings and sixpence or 'two and six'. Central Reservation System (CRS/CReS) The ability of guests to make a reservation for one out of a number of hotels by contacting one agency. This agency is contracted by the hotels acting as a group, to operate this 'central' reservation service. Frequent Independent Traveler (FIT) Guest Amenities High (Peak) Season / Shoulder Season Occupancy (Occ. %) (Occ Rate) Rack Rate Registration Card (Reg. Card) Revenue Per Available Room (REVPAR) Revpar = occupancy (percentage of available rooms occupied) × average room rate per night. Trends in revpar are very important. Revpar can be used to compare companies but only if they have broadly similar hotels - i.e. similarly priced in similar locations. Point of Sale (POS) Computerized systems that retail outlets such as restaurants, gift shops, etc, enter orders and maintain various accounting information. The POS generally interfaces with the property management system (PMS). Property Management Systems (PMS) A computerized front desk system that manages hotel room inventory, guest billing and interfaces with various other systems such as telephone, call accounting, point of sale (POS), entertainment, etc. Average Occupancy Per Room A ratio that shows the average number of paid guests for each room sold. Calculated by dividing number of paid room guests by number of rooms sold. Measures management's ability to use the lodging facilities. Proprietary Booking Engine A internet reservation system that is owned and operated by an individual hotel or group of hotels to allow them to take reservation on their own website without paying a fee to the GDS, third party booking engines, distribution channels or franchise reservation systems. Distribution Channel or OTA (Online Travel Agent) An internet site that provides a booking engine and a marketing/sales service. A traveller can search a large number of lodging facilities for availability and reserve a room. The lodging facilities are not affiliated with the site and pay a fee for the business that the third party site generates. Examples of third party sites include: hotels.com, priceline.com. Booking.com Merchant Model A business model in which a hotel provides an online company with a net rate that is a fixed discount off the hotel's retail rates, and the online company then sells the room to the customer at a rate of its own choosing and retains the difference. A common alternative to this model is an arrangement under which an online company sells to consumers at the hotel's rate, and the hotel pays the online company a percentage of the revenue generated. REVPAR Revenue Per Available Room Affinity Leads Sales and marketing opportunities related to groups organized around a common interest, such as AARP, AAA, and others. Consortia Marketing organizations that link together small to medium sized independent travel agencies to leverage purchasing power and marketing opportunities. CRM - Customer Relationship Management A strategy used to learn more about customers' needs and behaviours in order to develop stronger relationships with them and create a value exchange on both sides. F&B Food and beverage. GDS Global Distribution Systems are the original electronic sales systems linking hotel companies and other travel suppliers to travel agencies worldwide. Look to Book The ratio of shopping requests versus bookings on a website. 'Convert Lookers to Bookers'. LMFAO Laughing my fat ass off
Designation which applies to visitors who arrive on their own as opposed to being a part of an organized group.
Not to be confused with 'amenities', this is the term given to the range of disposable items provided in guest room bathrooms and includes such items as shampoo, lotion, conditioner, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, shower caps, etc… The cost of these items are built into room rate.
The period of consecutive months during which optimum revenues, room/suite occupancy and average room rates are generated. I
The percentage of available rooms occupied for a given period of consecutive time. This figure is calculated by dividing the number of rooms occupied for a period, by the number of rooms available for the same period and is expressed as a percentage.
The full, undiscounted published room rate (price).
A form on which arriving guests record their names, addresses, and other details including mode of transportation used, nationality, purpose of visit (usually business or pleasure), method of payment, and length of stay. A space is also provided for signature, room rate and room number. Additional questions may be included as a part of the hotel's market research platform. (Twitter and Facebook details).
Revpar is the key measure in the performance of the core business of hotels selling rooms. Revenue per available room (revpar) is the key indicator of performance for hotels and can be broken down into two parts reflecting occupancy and rates:
