IATA (International Air Transport Association)

IATA is the world trade association of airlines representing some 300 airlines or 83% of total air traffic which operates domestic and international services and acts as a supranational organization proposing rates, conditions or services, safety standards, etc.  IATA appoints retail travel agents for international ticketing through its IATAN subsidiary. IATA supports many areas of … Continued

IATAN (International Airlines Travel Agent Network)

IATAN is a department within IATA serving the US Travel and Tourism industry responsible about the issuer of the IATA/IATAN Card for travel agents in the United States. This card is an industry credential recognized worldwide as the mark of an agent who meets a set of standards valued by airlines, the travel agent community, and … Continued

IBE (Internet Booking Engine)

Internet Booking Engine (IBE) is an online application or IBE is an online application or search engine on any travel website which allows to search or book any kind of travel services on the Internet such as hotels, vacation rental, flights and so on. Hotel rates and allocations are displayed in real time and allow … Continued

IDS (Internet Distribution System)

IDS is generally used to express the hotel sales over the Internet. It is also known as a synonym for distribution via 3rd party Web sites and ADS and refer to internet portals that offer hotel reservations. It is a collection of internet reservation systems, travel websites and portals that concentrate on online marketing of … Continued

Incidental Charges

Incidental Charges is the cost or the extra charges of hotel amenities and services that are not included in room rates or the room package and taxes such as: phone calls, food, drinks, movies, restaurant and bar charges. Room service etc. Usually, hotels hold certain amount of money either cash or by credit card upon … Continued

Index

An index measures a hotel’s performance relative to an aggregated grouping of hotels competitive set, indexes to measure performance in three key areas: Occupancy index = MPI, ADR index = ARI and RevPAR index = RGI . An index of 100 means a hotel is capturing a fair share compared to the aggregated group of … Continued

Interface

Interface is the direct communication/ connection between two (or more) networks/ applications/ systems that can be interlinked together without any intermediary such as a connection between a PMS/ CRS and an OTA. Some key interfaces for PMS include: Booking Engines enabling seamless, two-way connections to the world’s leading booking engines. This helps hoteliers manage inventory and gain visibility. Easy Inventory Management … Continued

Inventory

Inventory when it relative to hotel distribution it is the number of rooms available for a hotel to sell or distribution across all channels.

Itinerary

Itinerary is the travel schedule or route of a journey for a customer or tour or the proposed outline provided by a travel agent which details hotel names, flight numbers, departure times, etc.