Glossary of terms in the hospitality & tourism
The most important terms and abbreviations in hospitality & tourism from A – Z
In my individual glossary for the hotel and tourism industry, I share a personal selection of 300 terms and abbreviations from the world of travel. These include aspects of airlines, travel agencies, hotels and other tourism service providers that I have found particularly important in the industry over the years. The list is my subjective collection of terms and does not claim to be exhaustive, but offers an insight into the key terms used in the tourism industry.
There are currently 300 names in this directory
A
Accessible Tourism
Travel that ensures that there is high availability in destinations, accommodations, attractions, products, and services to all people.
Accommodation Types
various types of accommodation, including hotels, hostels, holiday flats, resorts, etc.
Accreditation
A procedure to establish if a tourism business meets certain standards of management and operation.
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.
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)
Advanced Purchase Rate
the cheaper price for a hotel, plane, rail, etc. ticket when bought several days, weeks, or months before the journey.
Adventure tourism
A form of tourism in natural areas that includes active physical participation and exploration of new experiences
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.
Agritourism
A form of travel where travellers are accommodated on farms or in rural areas to experience farming and country life.;
Airport code
A three-letter identifier designating a specific airport. Properties are often referenced to airport codes in the global distribution system (GDS).
All-inclusive
A form of package holiday where the majority of services offered at the destination are included in the price paid prior to departure.
All-Inclusive Resort
A holiday resort that includes a minimum of three meals daily, soft drinks, most alcoholic drinks, gratuities, and possibly other services in the price.
Availability
The number of vacancies possibly for a specific type of accommodation for a specific set of dates.
Average Daily Rate (ADR)
The total room revenue for a given period divided by the number of rooms occupied for the same period.
B
B&B (Bed & Breakfast)
a rate that include bed and breakfast. A small accommodation usually in a private home providing overnight (bed) with breakfast.
Back to back
term used to describe tours operating on a continuing basis, usually without time between.
Blackout dates
Specific dates where special fares or promotions do not apply (e.g. during holidays or special events).
Block
a number of rooms, seats or places reserved in advance, usually by wholesalers, tour operators, or receptive operators to sell them as components of a tour package.
Boarding pass
document provided by transportation company during check- in, giving a passenger permission to board the airplane/ship.
Booking (or reservation)
a reservation for a room in a hotel, seat in a restaurant/train/aircraft, etc.
Booking engine
an (online) booking engine, or internet booking engine, is an application that enables online booking on a website.
Boutique Hotel
a small, stylish hotel that often offers an individual character and personalised service.
Business Plan
detailed written document that describes a business’s activities, goals, and strategy.
Business Travel
travelling for business purposes, such as conferences, meetings or business negotiations.
C
Cabin Crew
the collective group of flight attendants providing safety and full comfort to the airline passengers on board ;
Cancellation policy
the set of rules that the hotel applies in case of cancellation of a reservation.
Carbon Footprint
the amount of greenhouse gas emissions directly or indirectly associated with an activity or organisation.
Chain code
an identifier code of two characters, used by global distribution systems (GDSs) to identify hotel chains.
Chalet
a type of building or house, made of wood ,with wide eaves, common in Alpine regions, having a particular architectural style.
Channel Management
controlling of the allocation of hotel inventory and rates across all distribution channels including website, third parties and global distribution systems.
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.
Commercial Rate
a special rate agreed upon by a company and a hotel. Usually, the hotel agrees to supply rooms of a specified quality or better at a flat rate to corporate clients.
Commission
that percentage of the selling price that a travel agency or OTA receives from a supplier (hotel, airline,..) for selling accommodation, flights or other services.
Confidential Tariff
wholesale rates (net rates) distributed to travel wholesalers, tour operators and agents.
Confirmed Reservation
a written statement by a supplier that he has received and will honor a reservation.
Continental breakfast
a light breakfast, typically consisting of coffee and bread rolls with butter and jam.
Corporate Rate
hotel rate negotiated by companies designed to appeal to the needs of the business traveler.
Cost of Walk (COW)
the cost of turning away a guest when the hotel is unable to provide the promised accommodation, which may include the cost of a hotel room, transer, and probable lost future business.
Cost per occupied room (CPOR)
The formula for CPOR calculates the average cost per occupied room. (Total, gross operating profit divided per number of rooms sold).
Cover Charge
a fee, usually a flat amount per person, charged to cover the cost of music and entertainment
Cruise
a voyage on a ship or boat taken for pleasure or as a vacation and usually docking at several port destinations.
Customer Satisfaction Survey
a survey used to assess customer satisfaction with a service or product.
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.
D
Day Pass
a ticket or pass that allows guests to use facilities such as pools, beaches or gyms for a day.
Day Rate
a reduced rate granted for the use of a guest room during the daytime, not overnight occupancy.
Deposit policy
a specified amount or a percentage of the total bill due on a specified date prior to arrival.
Destination Management Company (DMC)
a company working in a specific destination to handle all bookings for tours or conferences, including hotel accommodation, transfers, sightseeing, meetings and special events.
Destination Marketing Organization (DMO)
an organization that promotes a location (city, region, state province, country) as a travel destination.
Dine-Around Plan
a meal plan, usually prepaid, that allows one to dine at various restaurants in an area.
Duty Manager
a hotel employee available around the clock to help with emergencies or unexpected problems.
Dynamic packaging
an online reservations process including demand-based hotel rooms pricing and flights and other non-hotel package components such as car hire, tours, etc.
E
Eco Tourism
ecologically sustainable tourism with a primary focus on experiencing natural areas that foster environmental and cultural understanding, appreciation and conservation.
Ethno Tourism
focusing on exploration of indigenous populations and their respective culture and traditions.
F
F.I.T
stands for “flexible independent traveler” or “foreign individual traveler”. It is an individual traveler, not part of a tour group.
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.
FF&E
an acronym that stands for Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment and that is used in hotel development.
Fly/drive tour
a package that always includes air travel and a rental car and sometimes other travel components.
Folio
an itemized record of a guest’s charges and credits which is maintained in the front office until departure.
Force majeure
this is an unforeseeable or uncontrollable situation or train of events that would excuse a breach of contract.
Free sale
the practice of selling rooms at a negotiated/confidential/contracted rate with no set allotment, until such time as the rate code is closed.
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.
Full service hotel
a hotel offering a restaurant, lounge facilities, and meeting space, as well other services such as concierge, bellboy,…
Function room
a is used primarily for private parties, banquets, and meetings. Also called banquet rooms.
G
General sales agent (GSA)
a person or company contracted by supplier (hotel, airline,…) to promote their products in a country, where they have no offices.
Glamping
luxurious form of camping where accommodation such as tents or cabins are equipped with amenities.
Global distribution system (GDS)
Network of electronic reservation systems used globally by travel agents booking hotel rooms, flight tickets, etc.
Graduation travel
is a milestone category of travel which refers to travel celebrating a graduation typically from high school or college.
Green Hotels
generally refers to hotels making an active effort to operate sustainably and reduce their environmental impact.
Gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR)
is calculated by room revenue minus expenses (GOP), divided by the total rooms available.
Group booking
a booking made for multiple rooms/people travelling together. It may require group billing.
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.
Guaranteed reservations
Room reservations booked with a guarantee of payment. They normally require a credit card at the time of booking or deposit within a specified period. The property guarantees availability and if it does not have a room available must arrange alternate comparable accommodation.
H
Health tourism
Health tourism covers those types of tourism which have as a primary motivation, the contribution to physical, mental and/or spiritual health.
Heritage Sites
the UNESCO World Heritage Sites are popular tourist destinations listed by UNESCO as having cultural or environmental significance.
High Season
the period of the year when occupancy of a hotel or attraction is normally the highest. Also referred to as peak season.
Hospitality Industry
the totality of companies offering accommodation, catering and entertainment services.
Hotel
a hotel is an establishment providing accommodations, meals, and other services for travelers and tourists.
Hotel Classification
the categorization of hotels according to certain standards to indicate quality of service.
I
Inbound Tour Operator
a tour operator based in a specific destination country who organizes travel arrangements for travelers from abroad.
Inbound tourism
Inbound tourism comprises the activities of a non-resident visitor within the country of reference on an inbound tourism trip.
Incentive tour
a trip offered as a prize, particularly to stimulate the productivity of employees or sales agents.
Inventory
the total number of rooms available that the property has to distribute or sell across all channels.
J
Junior Suite
a hotel room with a larger sitting area that is not in a different room from the bedroom.
K
L
Land arrangements
all the details of a land portion of a trip (hotel, car, tours, sightseeing, etc.).
Late Check Out
When a guest leaves the hotel later than the agreed time of departure. A fee may apply.
Lead time
the period between the time of booking and the actual arrival of the guest is called the lead time.
Load factor
the number of passengers traveling on a vehicle, vessel, or aircraft compared to the number of available seats or cabins.
Lose-it rate (walk-away rate)
refers to a rate where the hotel would be better off leaving the room unsold than sell at this rate.
Low season
the period when a destination experiences its lowest prices and the fewest number of guests.
M
Mark-up
the difference between the supplier’s selling price and agent’s price offered to the consumer.
Marketing plan
a written report that details marketing objectives for a product or service and recommends strategies for achieving these objectives.
Medical tourism
a type of tourism activity which involves the use of medical healing resources and services.
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 formalities, baggage, and transportation.
Minimum Length of Stay
a room inventory control function that requires a reservation to meet or exceed a certain length of stay in order to complete the reservation.
Mission statement
the concise description of a company, its purpose, and what it intends to accomplish.
Mountain tourism
a type of tourism activity which takes place in a defined and limited geographical space such as hills or mountains and encompasses a broad range of outdoor leisure and sports activities.
Mystery Guest
a quality control measure whereby an undercover guest evaluates the performance of a hotel.
N
Night Audit
is a reconciliation of the previous 24 hours of transactions at the hotel (night auditor is an employee who works at the reception of a hotel during the night shift).
No Show
a guest with a confirmed reservation, who doesn’t show for a flight, hotel, or rental car booking.
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.
O
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.
Occupancy Forecast
the constrained occupancy that the hotel is expected to achieve for a specified period.
Online Booking System
an easy way for customers to book a hotel, flight, etc. online and receive an instant confirmation without having to go through an agent.
Online travel agencies (OTA)
arranges and sells accommodations, tours, transportation and trips on an online platform for travelers.
Open Jaw
travel by air in which the passenger travels to one place and returns from a different place.
Optional
optional features that are not included in the tour price, such as extra tours or special activities.
Outbound Tour Operator
an Outbound Tour Operator 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.
Overbooking
the practice of booking rooms beyond the capacity of the hotel in anticipation that some guests will not show up.
Overhead
fixed costs involved in regular operations, such as rent, insurance, management salaries, and utilities.
P
Package Tour
a combination of several travel components from different suppliers, sold at a fixed price.
Passenger name record (PNR)
the official name of a reservation in a computer reservation system (CRS).
PAX
“PAX” is the international short version of “passengers”, used almost exclusively by the travel industry.
Point of sale (POS)
the place where a retail transaction is completed (e.g. restaurant, spa, shop, etc.).
Q
R
Release Period
the number of days before arrival, within which a hotel will not accept bookings from a distribution partner (OTA, Tour Operator).
Resort
a hotel, or other accommodation provider located in an area associated with recreation and leisure, such as the mountains, lakes or sea.
Responsible tourism
Type of tourism which is practiced by tourists who make responsible choices when choosing their holidays.
Restrictions
functionalities that can be applied to each room type/room rate to better control reservations and have a successful revenue management strategy.
Revenue management
to obtain a property’s maximum amount of overall possible revenue by using data and analytics to predict future guest behavior and demand.
Revenue Management System
a software application that hotels use to control the supply and price of their inventory in order to achieve maximum revenue by managing availability, room types and applying restrictions.
Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR)
RevPar = daily room revenue / total rooms available or Average Daily Rate (ADR) × Occupancy Rate.
Revenue per occupied room (RevPOR)
calculated by taking the total daily revenue (including ancillary revenues) and dividing it by the total number of occupied rooms at the hotel.;
ROH
Run of House. No room has been allocated to a guest before arrival, so they will get any room available.
Room Night
In the hotel (hospitality) industry, a room night refers to a hotel room that is occupied for one night.
Rooming List
the list of names or passengers on a tour or other group travel program, submitted to a hotel.
Run of the house Rate
a flat rate for which a lodging property agrees to offer any of its available rooms.
S
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”.
Service Charge
a specified percentage on invoiced hotel and restaurant services charged to the guest.
Sightseeing Tour
Short excursions of usually a few hours that focus on sightseeing and/or attraction visits.
Single Supplement
a single supplement is a surcharge applied to a single person staying in a room usually intended for two or more people.
Soft Launch/Opening
partial launch of a hotel property, perhaps at a reduced service level, usually to test the service offering prior to the official opening.
Spa
a resort area centered around a mineral springs offering pools, massages, treatments, sauna and steam baths, etc.
Split itinerary
an itinerary in which part of the group does one thing while the other part does something else.
Sports Tourism
refers to travel which involves either observing or participating in a sporting event.
Suite
a hotel accommodation with more than one room with distinct sleeping and living areas and often a kitchenette.
T
Total revenue per available room (TrevPAR)
a hotel key performance indicator (KPI) that gives a preview of the total revenue from all departments which the room can generate, including all hotel services.
Tour Guide
a person qualified (and often certified) to conduct tours of specific locations or attractions.
Tour Manager
a person in charge to escort a group of tourists, usually for the duration of the entire trip.
Tour Operator (TO)
a company which creates and markets inclusive tours and subcontracts with suppliers to create a package. Most tour operators sell through travel agents.
Tourism
the business of providing services, such as transportation, places to stay, or entertainment for tourists.
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.
Tourism Industries
comprise all establishments for which the principal activity is a tourism characteristic activity.
Tourism Product
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.
Tourism Satellite Account
a system of accounting at national or regional level which reveals the total direct impact of tourism on the economy.
Tourist (or overnight visitor)
a visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if the trip includes an overnight stay.
Transient Business
Guests who book their hotel individually rather than with a group and for shorts stays
Travel Agent (TA)
a business arranging travel for individuals or groups on behalf of suppliers (e.g. hotels, airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, package tours, railways, travel insurance, etc.).
Travel Component
Travel Component Transportation, lodging, dining, attractions, entertainment, guide services, and other travel elements offered as part of a travel package.
Turnaway
a potential reservation that couldn’t be satisfied because the tour (or hotel, ship, etc.) was fully booked.
U
Ultra All-Inclusive
an extended form of the all-inclusive concept with additional amenities and services.;
Unconstrained Demand
Demand that is not constrained by the capacity or restrictions of the hotel and could be sold if the hotel had an unlimited number of rooms available to sell.
Unrestricted Fare
an airfare that has no special advance purchase, or certain days to travel requirements, and is usually refundable.
UNWTO (UN Tourism)
United Nations World Tourism Organization, since 2024 called UN Tourism is the leading international organization in the field of tourism, and promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability.
Upsell
Process by which a guest is offered (at a cost) additional services or upgrades to a better room.
V
Visitors
Visitors are persons who undertake tourism as defined above. They are referred to as either tourists (those who stay overnight), or same-day visitors.
W
Waitlist
a list of clients awaiting transportation or accommodations at times when they are not available.
Wellness Tourism
is a category of travel for the purpose of promoting health and well- being through physical, psychological, or spiritual activities.
Wholesaler
a company that usually creates and markets inclusive tours for sale through travel agents.
World Heritage Site
a site designated by UNESCO as being of special historical, cultural, or natural importance.
Y
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