Reference
Hotel software glossary
Plain definitions for the acronyms and shorthand hotel-tech vendors use. Written for working hoteliers, not industry analysts.
- ADR
- Total room revenue divided by total rooms sold. The average price each occupied room actually fetched.
- Booking engine
- The software on a hotel's own website that lets guests check availability and book directly, bypassing OTAs.
- Channel manager
- Software that synchronises room availability and rates between a hotel's PMS and the OTAs (Booking.com, Expedia, etc.).
- CRS
- A reservation database used by hotel groups to manage availability and bookings across multiple properties.
- Data residency
- Where guest data is physically stored, and under which jurisdiction's laws.
- DPA
- A contract between a hotel (data controller) and a software vendor (data processor) defining how guest data may be processed under GDPR.
- GDPR
- The European Union's data protection law, which governs how hotels and their software vendors process guest personal data.
- OTA
- Third-party booking platforms like Booking.com, Expedia, and Airbnb that resell hotel rooms in exchange for a commission.
- PCI DSS
- The security standard that governs how hotels and vendors handle credit card data.
- PMS
- The central software a hotel uses to manage reservations, room inventory, guest profiles, rates, and billing.
- RevPAR
- Total room revenue divided by total available rooms over a period. The headline performance metric in hotel revenue management.
- RMS
- Software that recommends room rates based on demand, competitor pricing, and historical booking patterns.
- Sub-processor
- A third party engaged by a software vendor to process guest data on behalf of the hotel.