The OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) has released today Version 2001A of its specification, complete with XML DTDs, W3C XML Schemas, and supporting prose documentation. The XML-based OTA specification provides for the exchange of messages in the travel industry, covering airlines, car rentals, hotels, and other travel services. Part I "describes the base technical architecture used by the OpenTravel Alliance for message exchanges, including transport protocols, identification and connections to trading partners, security and privacy, and infrastructure required to identify the message content and route it to the proper application handler. Part II addresses the travel business content and exchanges of a customer profile, and identifies relevant message sets. Merging the OTA and Hospitality Industry Technology Integration Standards (HITIS) respective customer profiles, the OTA unites the requirements of both hospitality and travel industries into one comprehensive specification. Unifying a historically fractured process, OTA converges and capitalizes on the communication process between the players in this industry by harnessing the power behind Extensible Markup Language (XML). OTA Version 2001A enhances the use of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) XML schemas and adopts a portion of the messaging structure developed by the ebXML Transport, Routing and Packaging project team. In the coming months, OTA will complete work on two specifications, supporting such cross-industry norms as the ebXML infrastructure and SOAP messaging. Additionally, OTA will release for public review in spring 2002 a specification that will become the foundation for all future messaging in the travel industry."

"The OpenTravel Alliance Message Specification, Publication 2001A is a revision of the OTA version 1 Customer Profile Specification. The catalyst for this revision came from the agreement for cooperation and collaboration between two Standards Developer Organizations (SDOs), the OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) and the Hospitality Industry Technology Integration Standards (HITIS) project sponsored by the American Hotel & Lodging Association, (AH&LA). Bringing the two groups together has enabled this specification to profit from the best of both organizations, building upon their collective experience in the hospitality and travel industries. This specification also benefits from the work of other standards developer organizations; specifically, the ebXML initiative sponsored by UN/CEFACT and OASIS, and the work of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and their advancement of XML Schema to Candidate Recommendation status (2000-10-24).