FRONT OFFICE GLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATIONS A Accounts receivable: An amount owed to the hotel.

ADR : Average Daily Rate AFTA: Australian Federation of Travel Agents. AHMA : American Hotel & Motel Association Allotment: A limited number of rooms or seats available to wholesalers to free sell. Allowance voucher: A voucher used to support an account allowance. Allowance: A reduction to the folio, as an adjustment either for unsatisfactory service or for posting error. Also called rebate. American Plan (AP): A billing arrangement under which room charges include the guestroom and three meals; also called full pension. Average rate per room occupied: A very useful statistic that is calculated by dividing total sales of rooms during a set period by the total number of rooms occupied during that period. AVIC: Accredited Visitor Information Centre. B B & B: Bed and Breakfast facility Back to Back: A sequence of consecutive group departures and arrivals usually arranged by tour operators so rooms are never vacant; a floor plan design that brings the piping of adjacent baths into a common shaft. BBB : Better Business Bureau BC : British Columbia BEC: Business Enterprise Centre. Bed Tax: A tax added to the price of a hotel room. Benchmarking: Comparing results with similar tourism businesses or assessing the business against an industry average. Bermuda Plan: A method of quoting room rates where the charge includes a full breakfast as well as the room. BIC : Business Information Centre Black list: A black list is a record of people whom the hotel does not wish to accept as guests.

Block Booking: Hotel rooms held without deposit. Block: An agreed:upon number of rooms set aside for members of a group planning to stay at a hotel. Book: To sell or reserve rooms ahead of time. Booked: Hotel rooms, airline tickets or other travel services held for a specific client. Booking: Term used to refer to a completed sale by a destination, convention centre, facility, hotel or supplier (ie convention, meeting, trade show or group business booking). Brunch: A meal served after breakfast but before lunch and taking the place of both. Buyer: A member of the travel trade who reserves room blocks from accommodation or co:ordinates the development of a travel product. C C of C: Chamber of Commerce. Cancellation hour: The hour, after which a property may release for sale all unclaimed non-guaranteed reservations, according to property policy. Cancellation number: A number issued to a guest who has cancelled a reservation prior to the cancellation hour. Carriers: Recognised transport operators eg bus, ship or air. CAS : Call Accounting System Cash advance voucher/Paid out voucher: A voucher used to support cash flow out of the hotel, either directly to or on behalf of a guest. Cash voucher: A voucher used to support a cash payment transaction at the front desk. CBO: Central Booking Office. CCA : Coast Cultural Alliance Charge voucher: A voucher used to support a charge purchase transaction that takes place somewhere other than the front desk; also referred to as an accounts receivable voucher.

City ledger: The collection of all non:registered guest accounts, including house accounts and unsettled departure guest accounts. offices program. Commissions: A percentage of the total product cost paid to travel agents and other travel product distributors for selling the product to the consumer. Travel agents usually receive an amount averaging no less than 10% of the retail price. Wholesalers or tour operators usually receive 25:35% of the advertised price. Complimentary: No charge is made for the item or service offered.

Confirmation number: A number that provides a unique reference to a reservation record and assures the guest that the reservation record exists. Continental Plan: A method of quoting room rates where the charge includes a continental breakfast as well as the room rate. Cost Benefit Analysis: A comparison between costs and benefits. COTA : Council of Tourism Associations Cover: Each diner at a restaurant. CRS : Central Reservation Service CRS: Central Reservations System. CTA : Close to Arrival Cut off date: The date agreed upon between a group and a hotel after which all unreserved rooms in the groups block will be released back to the general rooms inventory for sale. CVA : Convention and Visitors Association CVB : Convention & Visitor's Bureau D Demographic Profile: Personal information about customers used to understand their buying or selling preferences, e.g. age, income, gender. Deposit Money: paid to secure a reservation. Destination Marketing: Advertising and promotions, aimed at consumer and trade, designed to build awareness and desire to travel to a particular location. Destination: A hotel, resort, attraction, city, region or state. Direct Bookings: Reservations made directly with the operator. Discounted Fare: Negotiated air fare for convention, trade show, meeting, group and corporate travel. DMC : Destination Management Company DMO : Destination Marketing Organization Documentation: All the tickets and vouchers that are sent to agents by a wholesaler. Domestic Market: Australians travelling within their own country.

DOS : Director of Sales Double Occupancy: A room occupied by two guests. Downgrade: Move a reservation or registered guest to a lesser accommodation or class of service. E ETA: Estimated time of arrival. ETD: Estimated time of departure. European plan: A billing arrangement under which meals are priced separately from rooms. F FAM : Familiarization Tour FAM Trip/Tour: Familiarization trip taken by travel agents at little or no cost to acquaint themselves with properties and destinations. Familiarisation Tours (Famils): Organised free trips for travel agents, tour operators, tour wholesalers, journalists or other members of the travel trade, for the purpose of educating and familiarising them with tourism destinations. By seeing the destinations to which they are sending travellers, the travel trade is better prepared to answer customer questions and promote travel to the location. In the case of journalists the famil should result in free publicity coverage.

Feasibility Study: A technique used to assess the financial potential of a proposed development. All aspects of the project are examined financial, human resources, marketing etc. Feature: An article in a travel publication or a characteristic of a service or product, eg price, FIT (Free Independent Traveller): These travellers travel independently, not in a group, usually by rental car or public transport. FIT : Foreign Independent Traveler Fixed Costs: Do not vary and include costs that the operator has no control over eg rates, licences etc. Float: An amount of money entrusted to the cashier for the purpose of giving change and making small payments. Floor limit: A limit assigned to hotels by credit card companies indicating the maximum amount in credit card charges the hotel is permitted to accept from a card member without special authorization. Fly/Drive: A package tour concept that includes a minimum of round:trip or one:way air travel and rental car to the destination. FOC: Free of charge. Forecast: A future projection of estimated business volume. Forecasting: The process of predicting events and trends in business; typical forecasts developed for the rooms division include room availability and occupancy.

Free Sell: A travel component (room or seat) allotted to a wholesaler so they can sell, and confirm the booking, directly with the client. G Galileo: Airline reservation system. Gateway or Gateway City: A major airport, rail or bus centre through which tourists and travellers enter from outside the region. GDS : Global Distribution Service GIT (Group Independent Travel): Group travel where individuals purchase a group package in which they will travel with others along a pre:set itinerary. GLBA : Gibsons Landing Business Association Global distribution system (GDS): A distribution channel for reservations that provides worldwide distribution of hotel reservation information and allows selling of hotel reservations around the world; usually accomplished by connecting the hotel company reservation system with an airline reservation system. Gross Rate: Same as rack rate. The accommodation rate quoted to the public. Group, convention, trade show, meeting and incentive rates are negotiated by the hotel and program organisers. Group Rate: Negotiated hotel rate for convention, trade show, meeting, tour or incentive groups. Group Travel: A prepaid tour usually with a set itinerary and number of travellers. GS : Guest Services GSA (General Sales Agent): A person who acts on behalf of a product or service for promotion and sales purposes. GSA : Guest Service Agent GSM : Guest Service Manager GST : Goods and Services Tax Guaranteed reservation: A reservation that assures the guest that a room will be held until checkout time of the day following the day of arrival; the guest guarantees payment for the room, even if it is not used, unless the reservation is cancelled prior to the cancellation hour. Guest Folio: A form (paper or electronic) used to chart transactions on an account assigned to an individual person or a guest room. H High Season: The time of year when tourist activity and rates charged are normally at their highest. Hospitality Industry: Another term for the tourism industry usually associated with hotel and restaurant operators. Hot List: A list of lost or stolen credit cards furnished to hotels and other retailers by the credit card companies.

House Count: The number of registered guests. House Limit: Credit Limit established by the hotel. HSMAI : Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International I IAAMC : International Association of Association Management Companies Icon: A facility or landmark which is visually synonymous with a destination. Inbound Operator: Travel operators who work with international wholesalers packaging holidays for overseas travellers, in liaison with Australian suppliers.

Incentive (group, guest or trip): Persons who have won a hotel stay (usually with transportation included) as a reward for meeting and excelling their sales quota or other company established standards. Incentive House: A package tour operator, wholesaler or travel agency that primarily organises, packages and sells incentive travel. Incentive Travel: Travel offered as a reward for top performance and the business that develops, markets and operates these programs.

Inclusive Tour: A tour program that includes a variety of features for a single rate (airfare, accommodation, sightseeing, performances, etc). International Marketing: Marketing a destination, product or service to consumers and the trade outside of Australia. Inventory: The process of keeping track of available tourism product. ITB: Internationale Tourismus Borse International Tourism Exchange held in Berlin. Itinerary: Detailed description of a travellers journey as shown on their tickets; can also include accommodation and other pre:arranged activities. L Late Charge: A transaction requiring posting to a guest account that does not reach the front desk for posting until after the guest has checked out and closed his/her account.

Late Checkout: A guest who has a scheduled departure for the day but remains beyond the checkout hour with permission of the desk and thus without charge. Lead Time: Time period from when a booking was made to the time a guest checks into the hotel. Leisure Travel: Travel for recreational, educational, sightseeing, relaxing and other purposes.

LGA: Local Government Authority. Local Market: The intrastate market. Lockout: Denying the guest access to the room, usually because of an unpaid bill. Log: A record of activities maintained by several operating departments. Low Season: The time of year when tourist activity and rates are at their lowest. LTA: Local Tourist Association. M M & IT : Meetings & Incentive Travel Marginal costs: The variable or added cost of selling a product that is incurred only if the room is sold; also called cost per occupied room. Market Segmentation: The division of the total market into groups of customers with common characteristics. Market Share: The percentage of business within a market category. Market Volume: The total number of travellers within a market category. Marketing Environment: All the outside factors that an operator has no control over and which affect their business, including government policy, technological changes, societal changes, competition and industry trends. Marketing Mix: The mix of media (radio, print, television, direct marketing, etc) to bring your product to the attention of consumers. Marketing Plan: Contains a mission statement, situation analysis, marketing objectives, strategies, tactics and programs of monitoring and control.

Media Visits: Organised trips for travel writers for the purpose of assisting them in developing stories about tourist destinations. Often journalists travel independently, though with the assistance of a state tourism office.

Mission (Sales): A promotional and sales trip co:ordinated by a state tourism office, convention and visitors bureau or key industry member to increase product awareness and sales, and to enhance image. Target audiences may include tour operators, wholesale, incentive travel planners, travel agents, meeting planners, convention and trade show managers and media. Missions often cover several international or domestic destinations and include private and public sector participants. Mission components can include receptions, entertainment, representatives of the destination, presentations and pre:scheduled sales and media calls. MLOS : Minimum Length of Stay Modified American Plan: A billing arrangement under which the daily rate includes charges for the guestroom and two meals typically breakfast and dinner. MPI : Meeting Professionals International

N N/S : No Shows NACS : National Association of Consumer Shows Nett Rate: The rate provided to wholesalers and tour operators that can be marked up to sell to the customer. Night audit: A daily comparison of guest accounts (and non:guest accounts having activity) with revenue center transaction information. No Show: A customer with a reservation at a restaurant, hotel etc who fails to show up and does not cancel. No:show: A guest who made a room reservation but did not register or cancel. NTA : National Tour Association O OCC : Occupancy Occupancy percentage: An occupancy ratio that indicates the proportion of rooms sold to rooms available for sale during a specific period of time.

Occupancy Rate: A percentage indicating the number of bed nights sold (compared to the number available) in a hotel, resort, motel or destination. OFFMKT : Off Market Operator: The owner and/or manager of the product. Out of Order (OOO): The room is not available for sale because of some planned or unexpected shutdown of facilities. Overage: An imbalance that occurs when the total of cash and checks in a cash register drawer is greater than the initial bank plus net cash receipts. Overbooking: Accepting more reservations than there are available rooms. Override Commission: Special bonus commission for reaching pre:determined levels of sales over and above the normal average net commissions paid. P Package: A fixed price saleable travel product that makes it easy for a traveller to buy and enjoy a destination or several destinations. Packages offer a mix of elements like transportation, accommodation, restaurants, entertainment, cultural activities, sightseeing and car rental.

Package: A number of services (transportation, room, food, entertainment) normally purchased separately but put together and marketed at a reduced price made possible by volume and breakage. Paid out: Cash disbursed by the hotel on behalf of a guest and charged to the guests account as a cash advance. PATA: Pacific Asia Travel Association. PAX: Passengers. PIA (paid in advance): A guest who pays his or her room charges in cash during registration. Plan: The basis on which room rate charges are made. For e.g.: American Plan/European Plan. Posting: The process of recording transactions on a guest folio. Pre and Post Convention Tours: Packages that are specifically designed for attendees of a particular convention or meeting. Pre Registration: A guest is pre:assigned a room by the property to be available upon arrival. Preferred Agents: Agents with a formal arrangement with a wholesaler who prefers to use their product. Press/Media Release: A news article or feature story written by the subject of the story for delivery and potential placement in the media. Private Branch Exchange (PBX): A telephone switchboard. Product: A hotel, motel, inn, lodge or other accommodation facility as well as tour, attraction or activity. Property management system (PMS): A computer software package that supports a variety of applications related to front office and back office activities. Providers: Suppliers of tourist services and products. Q QA : Quality Assurance Qualitative Research: Research which obtains in:depth, open:ended responses allowing respondents to put answers in their own words. It often has the benefit of obtaining more detailed insights. However, it does not allow for the presentation of results in numerical form. Quantitative Research: Involves the use of structured questions in order to provide uniform results which are representative of the desired population. Often allows for a larger number of people to be cost effectively surveyed and is most effective for the collection of general information such as market profiling. Considered more robust for business planning and financial feasibility assessment. R Rack Rate: The accommodation rate quoted to the public. Group rates, convention, trade show, meeting and incentive travel rates are negotiated by the hotel and program organisers.

Rack rate: The standard rate established by a hotel for a particular category of rooms. RDMO : Regional Destination Marketing Organization Reach: The percentage of people within a specific target audience reached by an advertising campaign. Registration card: A printed form for a registration record; in most states, law requires the guests signature on a registration card. Repeat Business: Business that continues to return, thereby generating increased profits. Reservation Systems: Computerised systems used by travel agencies offering airline, hotel, car rental and tours to determine availability and arrange bookings. Reservation: The advance booking of a travel product or component. Retail Agent: A travel agent. Retailer: Another term for travel agents who sell travel products directly to consumers. REV PAR : Revenue Per Available Room Revenue per available room (RevPAR): A revenue management measurement that focuses on revenue per available room. Room Allocation: A limited number of rooms or seats available to wholesalers to free sell. Room rate: The price a hotel charges for overnight accommodations. Room status report: A report that allows front desk agents to identify vacant and ready rooms, typically prepared as part of the night audit. Room variance report: A report listing any discrepancies between the front desk and housekeeping room status. RRW : Resort Reservations World:wide RTA: Roads and Traffic Authority. RTO: Regional Tourism Organisation. RVC : Rendezvous Canada RVDA : Recreational Vehicles Dealers Association RVRAC : RV Rental Association Canada S Sales Mission: Where suppliers from one tourism area travel together to another state or country for the purpose of collectively promoting travel to their area. Sales missions may include educational seminars for travel agents and tour operators.

SCTP : Sunshine Coast Tourism Partnership Seasonal Travel: Travel industry business cycles such as high or peak, low or off peak and shoulder season. Peak Primary travel season. Off Peak Period when business is slowest. Seasonality: Business variations across the seasons. Share: room in a hotel, motel, B&B or cabin etc. Shortage: An imbalance that occurs when the total of cash and checks in a cash register drawer is less than the initial bank plus net cash receipts. Shoulder Period: between peak and off peak periods when business is stronger, but has room for growth. SITE : Site Inspection SITE : Society of Incentive and Travel Executives Site Inspection: An assessment tour of a destination or facility by a meeting planner, convention or trade show manager, site selection committee, tour operator, wholesaler or incentive travel manager to see if it meets their needs and requirements prior to selecting a specific site for an event. After site Skipper: A guest who leaves with no intention of paying for the room. Split folio: A folio in which a guests charges are separated into two or more folios. Split Rate: Division of the total room rate charge among the several occupants of the room. SRP : Special Rate Plan Stakeholders: The individuals and organisations who are considered, consulted and potentially involved in developing policy, strategy, initiatives and decision:making. Standby Rate: Lower than the rack rate. Reservations are generally not held or guaranteed. Stayover: A room status term indicating that the guest is not checking out today and will remain at least one more night; a guest who continues to occupy a room from the time of arrival to the stated date of departure. Suppliers: Those businesses that provide industry products like accommodation, transportation, car rentals, restaurants and attractions. SWOT : Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats T TA : Travel Agent

Target Market: A specific group at which marketing activities are directed.

Tariff: Rate of fare quoted and published by a travel industry supplier (i.e. hotels, tour operators, etc). Usually an annual tariff is produced in booklet form for use in sales calls and at trade shows. TASAC: Tourist Attractions and Signposting Assessment Committee. TIC : Tourism Information Councilor Tour Operator: Develops, markets and operates group travel programs that provide a complete travel experience for one price and includes transportation (airline, rail, motor coach, and/or ship), accommodation, sightseeing, selected meals and an escort. Tour operators market directly to the consumer through travel agents and are beginning to be listed on computerised reservation systems. Tour Wholesaler: An individual or company that sells tour packages and tour product to travel agents. Tour wholesalers usually receive a 20% discount from accommodation, transportation companies and attractions and pass on a 10 15% discount to the retail agent. Tourism Accreditation: A scheme designed to ensure continuous provision of quality service and product by tourism operators.

Tourism Component: A single travel component. Grouped together tour components form a package. Tourist: Definitions vary, but in general a tourist is someone who leaves their own economic trade area (usually going a distance of a minimum of 50 to 100 kilometres) and stays overnight. TQM : Total Quality Management Travel agent guaranteed reservation: A type of reservation guarantee under which the hotel generally bills the travel agency after a guaranteed reservation has been classified as a no show.

Travel Agent: An individual who arranges travel for individuals or groups. Travel agents may be generalists or specialists (cruises, adventure travel, conventions and meetings). The agents receive a 10 15% commission from accommodation, transportation companies and attractions for coordinating the booking of travel. They typically co:ordinate travel for their customers at the same or lower cost than if the customer booked the travel on his/her own. Travel Industry: The collective term for tour operators, wholesalers and travel agents, also known as Travel Trade. Travel Product: Refers to any product or service that is bought by or sold to consumers of trade including accommodation, attractions, events, restaurants, transportation, etc. Travel: Leisure and other travel including travel for business, medical care, education, etc. All tourism is travel, but not all travel is tourism. Traveller: Definitions vary, but in general a traveller is the same as a tourist, however they have a less fixed itinerary. TTRA : Travel and Tourism Research Association Turn Down Service: An evening service rendered by the housekeeping department, which replaces soiled bathroom linen and prepares the bed for use.

U Understay: A guest who checks out before his or her stated departure date. Upgrade: Move a reservation or registered guest to a better accommodation or class of service without any extra charges. Upselling: A sales technique whereby a guest is offered a more expensive room than what he or she reserved or originally requested, and then persuaded to rent the room based on the rooms features, benefits, and his or her needs. USCC : United States Chamber of Commerce USP (Unique Selling Proposition): The sustainable competitive edge that the product has over other products.

V Very Important Person (VIP): A reservation or guest who warrants special attention and handling. VIC : Visitor Information Centre VIC : Visitor Information Councilor Visitor Information Centre: Travel information centres located at a destination to provide information and sometimes bookings for accommodation, tours, activities and events for visitors to the area. In Australia there are accredited centres use an italic i, and non accredited centres use a white roman i.

Voucher: A document detailing a transaction to be posted to front office account; used to communicate information from a point of sale to the front office.

Voucher: Confirmation slip, advice notice or pre:payment instrument that is exchanged for the travel service. W Walk in: A person who arrives at a hotel without a reservation and requests a room. Walking: Turning away a guest who has a reservation because of a lack of rooms. Wash down (or wash): Blocking fewer rooms than the number requested by a group, based on previous group history. WTM : World Travel Market WTTC : World Travel and Tourism Council

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