By EyeforTravel.com Correspondent in London<br><br>Travel suppliers, intermediaries and consumers alike are all e
Published: 14 Nov 2005
By EyeforTravel.com Correspondent in London
Travel suppliers, intermediaries and consumers alike are all embracing the Internet as a new communications and distribution channel, and OpenTravel specifications take advantage of this nearly ubi
Presenting here at the Travel Distribution Technology 2005 being held in London, Young said as everyone is moving towards the "net" now is the time to establish a new "open" specification for message communication between parties.
The OTA standard is supported by most of the larger players in the industry, said Young. This promises widespread use in the industry. Besides, OTA specifications enable development using the latest technologies.
"OTA messages can be used to dynamically update pricing information between an OTA enabled PMS and booking systems. For example, hotels depending on demand can change the cost of their available inventory and this change can be immediately reflected at the booking system. The hotels thus maximize their revenue," said Young.
On booking accuracy, he said, "OTA messages allow the intermediaries to interact with the hotel in real time." He also said, "OTA has defined standard messages for different participants in the travel industry. This permits ease of integration between reservation systems of different suppliers that are OTA compliant. For example, an OTA enabled hotel website can send a booking request to the system at a car rental agency when a guest wants to rent a car. This will enable the hotel to provide an integrated service to the customers."
What will be the long-term effect of OpenTravel? On this he said, "New opportunities for suppliers, intermediaries and consumers alike, it will create a lower cost and wider spread communication platform to communicate reservation, product and operational information, the creation of new, innovative products and services at a lower cost making use of operational data that is necessary to create a seamless travel experience for the consumer. This is the work of the OTA."





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