OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) Releases XML Specification Version 2001C

Alexandria, VA, USA. January 8, 2002.

The OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) announced OTA's release of Version 2001C of its Extensible Markup Language (XML) specification for public review.

Version 2001C includes both the ebXML-OTA mapping and best practices documents. Originally released December 21, 2001, OTA has extended the traditional 30-day review period to January 31, 2002, due to the holidays.

"This specification completes the initial round of OTA's efforts to permit travel industry trading partners to share content rich information," said OTA President Mike Kistner, Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Best Western International. "OTA's Board is pleased by the swift completion of Version 2001C. This version propels our efforts forward and permits OTA to move onto Version 2002A, which will allow travel trading partners to quickly implement more complex online transactions."

Building on the functionality of 2001A and 2001B specifications, 2001C includes these travel specific messages that enable users to:

Request and respond to airline flight availability and point of sale information. 2001C provides simple interface to Air Reservation Systems for querying availability for: 1. Multiple available flight options from multiple carriers 2. Multiple flight options from a single carrier 3. A specific flight from a specific carrier
Request and book comprehensive package holiday tours along with a variety of itinerary elements such as transportation, accommodation, car rental and other added-value services.
Check on the availability of golf courses and book a tee time.
Search for specific hotels, check for availability, and make a reservation.
Check the availability of car rentals and simplify the steps to making that reservation.
Book an air reservation (simple booking).
Get and book quotes on travel insurance that best fits a traveler's needs.

As with all OTA specifications, 2001C includes XML Schema documents that streamline implementation and provides sample XML instance documents and a complete text description of the XML content. To view and comment on 2001C, visit http://www.opentravel.org/opentravel/2001c.cfm.

About OTA

The OpenTravel Alliance (www.opentravel.org) develops communications specifications to allow for the efficient and effective exchange of travel industry information via the Internet.

With over 150 members representing influential names in all sectors of the travel industry, OTA is comprised of representatives from the airlines, car rental firms, hotels, leisure suppliers, service providers, tour operators, travel agencies, and trade associations.

OTA working groups, together with an OTA interoperability committee to coordinate their efforts, develop open Internet-compatible messages using XML.

Contact

The OpenTravel Alliance
Alexandria, VA, USA
Julia O'Brien
703/837-6155
jobrien@disa.org

Prepared by Robin Cover for The XML Cover Pages archive. See "OpenTravel Alliance (OTA)."

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