Words To Know: A Beginning Travel Agent Glossary
Like any other industry, the travel industry is also full of different kinds of acronyms and dialects, which can be hard for the new personnel and travelers to understand. You may not want to Google the definitions for the term every time you hear it. Learning these abbreviations and travel industry words can be quite helpful during your travel to properly understand the conditions of the terms your agent is using.
So, here we have come up with the list of travel agent glossary for a beginner, which can be valuable if you have to run across the industry terms that are unknown to you.
- AAA Five Diamond Award :
AAA Five Diamond Award is also a type hotel valuation system similar to star systems like 3-stars hotels and 5-star hotels. The AAA (American Automobile Association) rewards the hotels this appraisal, the services of the Five Diamond Award hotels can be compared to the facilities of the 5-star hotels around the world. The hotels in the U.S, Mexico, Canada, practice this rating system. - ABR= Average Bed Rate :
ABR, which stands for the Average Bed Rate, is the total amount charged for the bed divided by the total number of sold beds. This rate is practiced by the hotels to maximize the revenue per bed in the hotel than maximizing the revenue by just only one room. The managers can find ways to increase their average rate by identifying the factors affecting the ABR. - ASTA :
ASTA stands for the American Society of Travel Advisors, which is a global leading advocate organization formed to aid the travel advisors, travelers, and overall the whole travel industry. The employees associated with the ASTA help to connect people of the travel industry with each other, share the chain of information, and keep notifying the travel personals about the new updates in the travel sector. Furthermore, the ASTA also organizes different kinds of events to educate the members of the tourism sector about the latest news, policies, and changes that are affecting the travel industry. - Administration Costs :
The administration costs are also known as the fixed cost or overhead cost that incur on business or hotels as the running expenses. It can be simply understood as the basic costs that occur in an organization without making any sales. Some of the examples of the administrative costs are taxes, licensing fees, facility upkeep, and so on. - BDM= Business Development Manager :
The BDM represents a top official in the industry who is in charge of handling the travel suppliers. The major role of the BDM is to increase awareness about their brand, which is designed to help the travel agents to grow their business. These types of personnel work with the top tier travel suppliers to provide the best deal and opportunities to the travel agents. Also, they can be of great assistance to aid the agents when there is a unique request or in cases where unique challenges arise, which can be too much for a single agent. - Accommodation :
The word accommodation can be understood as the lodging, renting a room or building as a shelter for a person while traveling. There are several types of accommodation facilities that are practiced throughout the travel industry, like; hostels, hotels, motel, resort, inns, homestays, etc. - CLIA :
CLIA, which stands for the Cruise Line International Association, is an organization that emphasizes educating its members about the cruising industry. This organization puts its resources and efforts to good use by creating several opportunities for the travel agents to learn more about cruising, be it via an online course or any other industry events. The CLIA also provides a number to the agents and the agencies which are used as the identifier for the recognition in the industry. The agencies that are associated with the CLIA and have got their own number can use it in all forms of travel, which is also widely accepted and with the benefit of direct air booking. - ADR= Average Daily Rate :
The Average Daily Rate is calculated in the hotels and accommodation facilities to find out the price or rate for each individual room for a specific day. It is the most common way of measuring the performance of the hotel organization and comparing it with other business rivals with a similar size, clientele, services, location, and so on. - FAM Trip :
The ‘FAM’ trip is the short version of the ‘Familiarization Trip.’ This trip is generally taken by the travel agents firsthand to get familiar with any new destination before creating a vacation package about it. The agents collect information about the place, and when it comes to the time to send clients, the specific details and attractions of the location can be used as the plus point to increase the sales package to the destination. This type of trip is offered to the agents at a heavy discount, special rate, or even free of cost in some cases by the hosts of the destination to increase the inflow of the customers. - ADS= Alternative Distribution System :
The ADS term is used to define the distribution of services through third-party websites. It is also known as the virtual marketplace where the agents can showcase their clients the services they host; the ADS include services like OTA, travel search directories, airline website, and other reservation websites. - OTA= Online Travel Agency :
OTAs recognized as online travel companies allow consumers to book various kinds of services from their websites. The consumer can choose the services they desire directly from the internet, including vacation packages, rental services, as well as hotels and restaurant reservations. As the consumer can book any kind of services on-the-go, these are the most popular ways for finding out the ideal vacation destinations. - FIT :
FIT stands for Foreign Independent Travel, these types of travel are designed for the people who don’t want to limit themselves with the plans of an itinerary. The agencies create FIT packages for the solo travelers or groups who can design their own trip plans, these kinds of trips also don’t have any tour guide or leader to manage the team. The FIT travel plans may not be able to cover the destination like a structured itinerary planned by the travel agent who has years of experience in the field. Further, for the new traveler, the escorted tour by an agency is more cost-effective, so unless you are expertise in the backpacking way of traveling, you may want to stick to an agency. - AOR= Adult Only Resort :
These kinds of resorts are designated for the couples and groups that are looking for a romantic or a relaxing holiday. The resorts and hotels in this category are only available for clients over the age of 18. The accommodation and other services in these categories are catered towards the older audience; also, every small detail and comforts are designed for adult clients. - SAS :
SAS, which stands for the ‘Seminar at Sea,’ is quite similar to the FAM trip where the agents take a cruise trip to get familiar with its services. However, compared to the FAM trip, these kinds of trips may last for only a little while, the agents who are present to get familiar with the cruise trip may be given an educational session on board to brief them about the services and specialties of the cruise line. This can be a hefty opportunity for the travel agents who specialize in the cruising sector as the SAS offers them the exclusive new destinations, the new ships in the game, and also an inner view on how cruise line operates on private islands or out in the deep oceans. - All-Inclusive Hotel/Resort :
When you come across a package that says all-inclusive either in a resort or hotel, it means everything is included in the price. The inclusive holiday packages include the minimum lodging, three meals a day, soft drinks or hard drinks, and other additional services in the price range. The packages may differ from hotel to hotel depending on the services, recreational activities, and entertainment facilities they can offer. Some resort or hotel may charge some additional fees depending on the extra activities they can offer like golf or water surfing, skiing, and so on. - ALOS= Average Length of Stay :
The average length of stay is the term practiced in the hospitality industry to determine the number of days a client would be staying. The ALOS is calculated, dividing the number of room nights by the number of bookings. The travel agents who are overseeing the vacation use this term to book the hospitality facility for their clients. So, next time you see the ALOS abbreviation on the form, but the number of days you are planning to stay. - TRAVEL.STATE.GOV :
The official government website of the U.S Department of State is an important resource for travel agents to prepare the clients for traveling abroad. This site provides all the requirements that a U.S citizen needs to fulfill before visiting a foreign country. Moreover, this site also includes the location of the entire U.S embassy for each of the countries in the world if the citizen needs some kind of aid in the middle of the travel. The users also can use learn about the visa requirements on the site, and they will also be frequently updated with the new travel news and notices. - Allocation/ Allotment :
The ‘Allocation’ and ‘Allotment’ terms are practiced by the hotels and accommodation service providers. Allocation stands for the process of selecting a number of rooms and making them available for sale, the number of room allocated may not be the same as the total number of the room the accommodation service provider is in possession of. The hotel manager can choose to allocate only a limited number of rooms so the hotel can make other rooms available at the near-peak season when the inflow of the customer is expected to be high, creating higher revenues at the period. Similarly, the Allotment is a process used to designate a certain block of pre- booked rooms, which was held by a thor party like a travel agency or any other booking party. If the hotel has any unsold room prior to a few days of the guest’s arrival from the third parties, they can also be released back to the party if there is any such kind of agreement between the supplier and the accommodation service providers. - Agency Model :
The Agency Model is a form of OTA but in a commercial model. The special feature about the agency model is that the clients pay directly to the accommodation service providers, and when the stay is confirmed, the service provider offers an agreed commission to the OTA agency. The hotels provide the OTA agencies a sell rate; it allows the hotels to create a transparent price and using the rate parity as a strategy to attract more consumers. The agency model is also very beneficial for the cash flow of the hotel; the clients also bear a low risk as they don’t book directly to the hotels and can cancel the reservation without being charged the cancellation fees. - Back-to-Back Ticketing :
The back-to-back ticketing is the process of booking two overlapping round trips with the opposite origin and destinations. Both bookings meet the restrictions required to get a discount fare, then one segment from each trip for both destinations of the single journey is used to get a lower fare. Generally, the travelers stick to this method of traveling to boycott the ticketing restriction like Saturday night stay-over and not to pay higher prices for the mid-week travels. - Concierge :
Concierge is hotel personnel who is provided by the hotel as an additional service to brief the client about the non-hotel attraction, services, and activities they can enjoy in the destination. These kinds of services are only provided at the high-grade hotels, which provide additional amenities and pieces of information to the guest at relatively higher prices. The additional services may include the reservation at the top restaurants or eateries, adventure activities or city tours, etc. The concierge works as the primary bond between the hotel guest and the non-hotel related activities that the guest wishes for. Booking different kinds of services or reserving adventure packages for guests is non-hotel related, so it can be more expensive depending on the nature of the activities and sightseeing the guest wishes for. - Confirmed reservation :
The confirmed reservation is a formal letter that is taken as the written statement by the supplier that he/she has received a reservation and will honor it. The travel agencies or any third-party booking services practice this tradition to confirm the reservation of their guests. This tradition is practiced in the tourism industry because the oral confirmation isn’t of much value as they don’t have any legal bounding, but the suppliers and hotels that have deep bonds do practice the oral confirmation of the number of guests arriving. However, the confirmed reservation letter also have their own limitations; they might not be obliged to follow if the arrival of the guest is behind the designated time; like the hotels may not honor reservation if the guest arrives after 6 p.m. unless the confirmed reservation confirms the late arrival. - Consolidator :
Consolidator is a wholesaler who purchases the airline tickets in large numbers and re-sells them to the individuals or travel agencies. The ticket provided by the consolidators comes at a low price, but they do tend to have some complex restrictions. The price difference when you purchase from a consolidator and direct airline can have a vast difference. So, if your travel agency has a connection with consolidators, the trip can be quite cost-efficient. The fares provided by the consolidator have been found to be the cost-saving way of traveling on international flights. - Consolidation :
Consolidation is the process of compensating a client if his/her flight is canceled due to any unforeseen event. If the charter flight has to cancel a flight in the specific departure period or charter departure, the tour operator transfers the traveler into another charter flight or to the other flights for the same destination on the same day. Further, the tour operators also sell the same tour with identical departures dates through other outlets and wholesalers to reduce the possibility of tour cancellations. - Electronic Ticket :
This is a special way of traveling where the travelers do not need any kind of paper airline tickets. The traveler can check-in and fly from the designated destination with just the proper photo ID of themselves. The tour operator makes every kind of preparation for the client booking and assigning an electronic ticket number. The best thing about the electronic ticket is that like a normal paper ticket, it never gets lost or can be used by anyone else besides the designated client. The only drawback electronic ticket has it, that if there is any cancellation of flights, the traveler must print the hard copy of the ticket so other airline services.