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| OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) |
[May 25, 2001] OpenTravel is an open 'syntax' standard that takes communication down to the individual data element level and allows two parties to communicate individual data elements in any order and quantity that they wish. OpenTravel travel standards are intended to create new opportunities for travel agencies as the cost to communicate directly with a supplier for information will be greatly reduced and standardized using a common, widely used, proven protocol. With access to a wider variety of more readily available travel supplier information, agencies will be able to better serve their clients. For the GDSs (also known as computer reservation systems), we believe OpenTravel standards will afford new opportunities as well. Developing and maintaining current messaging standards is expensive and uses highly specialized programming. The OTA currently has over 150 members from the Airline, Hotel, Car Rental, Leisure, and other travel industry companies. Some companies included as OTA members are American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Continental Airlines, Hilton Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, Marriott Hotels, ANC Rental, Avis Rent A Car, Budget Rent-A-Car, and many software developers and affiliated companies in the travel industry... The OTA specification uses the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) that allows for the exchange of structured data as well as processing instructions over the Internet or other means of transport."
With XML, "OTA defined a common vocabulary of data items in terms of elements, attributes, or reusable entities. Logical groups of data elements are represented by schema fragments that provide formal specification of semantics and data typing that allows the schema fragments to be combined into message structures as needed. With the recent promotion of XML Schema as a Recommendation from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) on 2001-05-02, OTA has developed schema files for the messaging components and profile content data found in this specification, making it available for implementation. Parties may also choose to validate messages using a document type definition (DTD) that defines the hierarchical arrangement of data items according to a set of rules. In either case, separate DTD or schema specifies basic error conditions and administrative messages independent of the versioned specifications.
[May 25, 2001] New OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) Specification Supports Cross-Industry Availability and Booking Capabilities. More than 140 leaders representing all aspects of the travel industry recently met for an OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) Advisory Forum and approved the release of a new draft customer profile specification. Version 2001A of the OpenTravel Alliance Message Specifications document "merges the OTA and Hospitality Industry Technology Integration Standards (HITIS) respective customer profiles into one comprehensive profile to expedite the imminent adoption of this new OTA specification. The Version 2001A public release also includes a major infrastructure change that incorporates emerging Extensible Markup Language (XML) capabilities: it adopts a portion of the messaging structure developed by the Electronic Business XML (ebXML) Transport, Routing and Packaging project team. Version 2001B has also been released for member review; it includes the complete set of revised HITIS standards for the hotel industry coupled with availability and booking specifications to serve airline, car rental, package holidays from consumer to supplier, and travel insurance industries. The OTA specifications now include the principal specification document, W3C XML Schema and schema fragments conforming to the W3C Candidate Recommendation, XML DTDs, UML Model diagrams, and a data dictionary. The OTA's five working groups, together with an interoperability committee to coordinate their efforts, are developing open Internet-compatible messages using XML data terms: air, car, hotel, leisure supplier, and non-supplier." [Full context]
[August 11, 2000] The OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) has announced the publication of its version 1.0 specifications for the travel industry. The OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) is a consortium of suppliers of travel services -- airline, hotel, car rental, passenger rail, travel arrangers, leisure -- and companies that provide distribution and technology support to the industry. The distribution package includes 'versioned' and 'non-versioned' XML message DTDs. From the executive summary: "The OpenTravel Alliance Message Specification, version 1 (OTA version 1) provides a common customer profile that travelers can fill out once and exchange among various travel services over the Internet. The specification provides a uniform vocabulary that captures and exchanges data on a traveler's identity, affiliations including employer, loyalty programs, forms of payment, travel documents, and detailed travel preferences. A key feature of the profile allows customers to define collections of travel preferences in terms of their own travel plans and experiences, and includes preferences for various travel services (air, hotel, car rental, other) as well as common preferences across services. The specification allows for straightforward preferences as well as collections meeting complex conditions, including choices to avoid. OTA version 1 also allows customers to identify related travelers, such as family members, companions, or fellow business colleagues, and link to their profiles. The OTA specification uses the Extensible Markup Language (XML) that allows for the exchange of structured data -- the kind of data stored in databases -- as well as processing instructions over the Web. With XML, OTA defined a common vocabulary in terms of data items called elements, attributes, or reusable entities reflected in unique tags that identify the data in messages. The hierarchical structure of these data items in a set of electronic rules is called a document type definition (DTD) that allows parties exchanging customer profiles to validate the messages. A separate DTD specifies basic error conditions and administrative messages independent of OTA's specification versions. OTA version 1 specifies that parties send profile messages as pairs of requests with corresponding responses. The messages contain four basic functions: (1) creating a profile, (2) reading a profile, (3) updating a profile, and (4) deleting a profile. The update process is the most complex and can address individual parts of the profile record. The other functions address the profile record as a whole. The specification provides tag-naming conventions, which include the version and hierarchy of the elements in each tag. OTA version 1 recommends security features providing authentication of parties, confidentiality, and integrity of messages, and provides a control section in each message, separate from the business content, for these security features. The specification also has strict privacy requirements that lets the customer indicate which data to share with other parties, even for routine functions like keeping all copies of the profile on remote sites identical with the original."
[March 01, 2000] A recent announcement from the OpenTravel Alliance describes the first public release of an XML messaging specification and DTD, now available for comment. "Charged with crafting Internet specifications based on the Extensible Markup Language (XML), the OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) released today a draft of its first specification for public comment. OTA version 1 tackles the complex subject of customer profiles that cuts across travel industry sectors. This first specification demonstrates the ability of OTA's infrastructure and process to achieve this goal, and do it quickly. 'OTA's specification will enhance communication among all components of the travel industry businesses and travelers and help meet the expectations of customers in today's virtual marketplace,' said OTA Board Chairman Jim Young of Continental Airlines. 'As we extend the scope in version 2 and beyond, trading partners will be able to exchange more trip-centric information in ways that create new and better-tailored services for individual travelers.' OTA developed the specification with a key objective of letting customers enter their basic data and travel preferences just once, no matter how many travel suppliers and intermediaries are involved in a trip. Achieving this goal required OTA to create a common vocabulary for the travel industry, taking advantage of the extensible nature of XML that still allows for more growth later if needed. A live demonstration of OTA version 1 messages shows that travel companies can begin using the specification right away. The demonstration, accessible from the OTA web site, www.opentravel.org, lets visitors create, read, update and delete simple customer profiles with valid XML messages. McCord Travel and Airline Automation Inc. developed the demonstration on behalf of OTA. OTA, which only began in May 1999, now has over 100 members representing influential names in all sectors of the travel industry, including air, car rental, hotel, travel agencies, technology providers and related suppliers. The Alliance is comprised of five working groups air, car, hotel, leisure supplier, and non-supplier together, with an interoperability committee to coordinate their efforts. OTA defined its open messages with XML, the new high-powered language that makes it possible to exchange business data seamlessly among different systems, companies, and industries over the World Wide Web."
General: News, Articles, Papers, Reports
[May 4, 2005] "Continental and America West Lead Charge For Travel XML Spec." By Tony Kontzer. From InformationWeek (May 4, 2005). "Airline officials told attendees at the Open Travel Alliance's advisory forum that their companies are putting the OTA spec to use for bookings, simplifying distribution, and simplifying links with car-rental companies and travel agencies. Continental Airlines and America West Airlines have emerged as aggressive adopters of a new XML specification developed by the Open Travel Alliance, a 6-year-old industry standards organization. Officials from the airlines told attendees at the OTA's advisory forum in Dallas on Wednesday that their companies are putting the spec to use for bookings, simplifying distribution, and streamlining links with car-rental companies and travel agencies... Continental is in the process of migrating an existing XML connection into its reservation system to the OTA spec. The connection is for business partner Patheo Inc., which provides technology that facilitates transactions between travel suppliers and travel resellers... America West, meanwhile, is on a similar path. Its first OTA-compliant direct connect was with its leisure-trip-packaging unit, America West Vacations. It's also preparing to provide its line of Web sites with the OTA's XML schema so they can connect into the airline's reservations system however they choose, said Chris Stanley, senior director of electronic distribution. So far, the XML messages it's supporting with the OTA spec includes queries for schedule availability, pricing and booking, and requests for passenger-name records data..." [May 3, 2005] "Momentum Builds Behind Travel-Industry XML Specification." By Tony Kontzer. From InformationWeek (May 3, 2005). "During a recent Dallas forum for its members, leaders of the Open Travel Alliance said that growing numbers of travel companies are migrating from proprietary XML interfaces to the alliance's standard, even though a plan to roll out a certification program has been delayed. [This] standard XML messaging specification is picking up momentum in the travel industry, promising improved connectivity between business partners, better packaging of travel products and services, and lower distribution costs... OTA chairman Jim Young, senior VP of global distribution for Intercontinental Hotels Group, told an audience of more than 200 of the 6-year-old alliance's travel-industry members. The forum was being held in conjunction with research firm PhoCusWright's Travdex travel technology conference. Still, the cooperation isn't without kinks. The delay is due not only to unexpected liability and administrative costs, but also because of reticence among some members to publish profiles detailing their use of the spec. The alliance's XML spec is designed to facilitate the exchange of information between travel companies as the industry works to improve the ability of its customers to research and book all aspects of a trip in a single online transaction. After years of building industrywide interest, developing the specs, and, more recently, attempting to synch those specs with those offered being developed by similar organizations representing specific sectors such as airlines, hotels, and car-rental companies, tales of adoption abounded at the forum. Companies such as Marriott International, Sabre Holdings, Cendant, and Hertz Rent-A-Car have published their implementations of the OTA spec for others to learn from. Expedia Inc.'s Newtrade travel commerce unit has adopted the spec to ease communication with partners. And leisure-travel specialist LibGo Travel Inc. has adopted the OTA spec and is attempting to get as many of its partners to adopt it, too. For those partners who haven't done so, LibGo has built translators that convert incoming messages into the OTA XML schema as a temporary stopgap, CIO Danny Hudson said during a panel discussion..." [February 22, 2005] "OTA and APEX Partner for Common Standards." - "The OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) and the Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX) are Supporting the Travel, Meetings, Conventions and Exhibitions Industries OTA and APEX, two closely related industry organizations, are coordinating their efforts to standardize data interchange and streamline the way the travel industry and the meetings, conventions and exhibitions industry do business. Together their goal is to develop XML schemas for their respective industries, parts of which have common elements that can be developed in concert. OTA, a non-profit open alliance, is focused on the travel industry as a whole entity, such as airlines, hotels, car rental companies and other travel and technology related organizations. An initiative of the Convention Industry Council, APEX concentrates on event organizers, hotels and other venues, convention and visitors bureaus and related-industry needs. APEX and OTA intend to further cross-industry coordination and are expanding data exchange standards for easier, faster and cheaper communications among business partners. As of Friday, February 4, 2005, the Convention Industry Council is a member of OTA. That membership will facilitate increased involvement and partnership across the industry. Work continues strong in both organizations. In December 2003, OTA published its 2004B Specification for XML, which includes many hotel XML schema that is currently being implemented. Almost simultaneously, APEX published its industry glossary, which has set the stage for future data definitions, and the APEX Post-Event Report, which defines the standard data elements for a post-event report..." [July 28, 2003] "Sabre Travel Network Launches Web Services Capabilities for Agents. New Offering Provides Standard, Industry-Accepted, Easy-to-Use Technology to Access Sabre Global Distribution System Products and Capabilities." - "Sabre Travel Network, a Sabre Holdings company, today announced the roll out of its Sabre Web Services offering. This new offering provides travel agents easier, faster and more flexible access to the Sabre Global Distribution System (GDS) using industry-accepted OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) standards. It enables agencies to reduce development time for new and enhanced offerings, thereby cutting costs, speeding time to market for new sources of revenue, improving customer loyalty and assuring competitive advantage. In the past, customers gained access to the Sabre GDS and those of other travel providers in a variety of ways using multiple languages and forms of connectivity. Now Sabre Web Services (making use of leading-edge XML and SOAP technologies) streamlines that process, offering developers a single standards-based access to the GDS. This eliminates the need for agents and Web developers to understand proprietary codes and programming languages to connect their systems to the disparate data sources needed to create bookable Web-based travel offerings. 'We were able to link our dynamic packaging engine to the Sabre Web Services platform with ease,' said Rakesh Mishra, president of HyperTech Solutions, a Sabre Travel Network customer which provides dynamic packaging and remote connectivity technology to the travel industry. 'Sabre Web Services' features are fantastic, and the rapid development cycle brought our revised product to market 30 percent faster, while allowing us to price our products even more competitively. It's been 'win-win-win' -- for Sabre Travel Network, for HyperTech and for our tour operator customers!' HyperTech develops Internet booking engines and Web-based solutions for tour operators and air consolidators... An agency planning to build a Web site with travel booking capabilities can easily access the Sabre GDS via Sabre Web Services and select specific services to meet their individual business needs. For example, one agency may use geographic displays of available hotels, while another may opt for a more streamlined text view of available hotels. By selecting Sabre Web Services, rather than off-the-shelf booking tools, agencies gain maximum control over the creation of their customer-facing booking tools... Sabre Travel Network, a Sabre Holdings company, provides access to the world's leading global distribution system (GDS) and products and services enabling agents at more than 56,000 locations worldwide to be travel experts. About 35 percent of the world's travel is booked through the Sabre GDS. Originally developed in 1960, it was the first system to connect the buyers and sellers of travel. Today the system includes more than 400 airlines, approximately 60,000 hotels, 53 car rental companies, nine cruise lines, 36 railroads and 232 tour operators..." [June 10, 2003] OpenTravel Alliance Releases OTA Specification Version 2003A for Travel Related Services. The OpenTravel Alliance has announced the publication of its OTA Specification Version 2003A which "provides the travel industry and travel related services the ability to deliver new features and enhanced capabilities to travelers, through enhanced XML transactions." OTA is a non-profit organization of more than 150 members from major airlines, hoteliers, car rental companies, leisure suppliers, travel agencies, global distribution systems (GDS), technology providers and other interested parties, working to create and implement industry-wide, open e-business specifications." The OTA 2003A Specification XML Message Sets package contains 140 XML Schemas corresponding to events and activities in various travel sectors. Sections 2-10 of the principal Open Travel Alliance Schema Descriptions and Examples document describe message sets from several groups and profiles, including the Air Working Group, Car Working Group, Hotel Working Group, Insurance, Package Tours/Holiday Bookings, Travel Itinerary Messages, Rail Messages, Loyalty Messages, and Generic Messages. The Version 2003A specification provides enhancements and introduces three new message pairs: (1) OTA Insurance Plan Search Messages supports a method for insurance agents and third party vendors to obtain a list of available insurance products and perform searches to find insurance products that meet certain requirements, e.g., length of coverage, number of travelers, residence/citizenship restrictions, form insurance company or intermediary; (2) OTA Hotel Request for Proposal (RFP) and Request for Information (RFI) Messages allow for automation of RFP/RFI in the Group/Meeting or Tour/Wholesale business, and for acknowledgement of request receipt; (3) OTA Hotel Reservation Modify Messages accommodates a full overlay of a reservation for the purpose of making a change to an existing confirmed booking. Additional business scenario and instance documents have been supplied to assist companies in implementing the OTA specification. [December 30, 2002] "OpenTravel Alliance Announces Publication of OTA Specification Version 2002B." - "The OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) is pleased to announce the publication of the 2002B Specification that provides the travel industry and travel related services the ability to deliver new features and enhanced capabilities to travelers, through enhanced XML transactions. The 2002B release enhances messages previously released, as well as, introduces new messages across all of the work groups. The Air, Car, Hotel and Travel Integration Work Groups have each provided an introduction to highlight new features and enhancements offered in the 2002B Specification. OTA would like to thank all its 120 member companies, project teams, working groups and committees that worked so diligently to provide a richer, more robust specification and further travel technology and XML development. Thanks to this effort, the OTA is one step closer to its goal to create a common and complete XML dialect for the travel industry..." [November 20, 2002] OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) Publishes XML Specification Version 2002B. The OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) has announced a Version 2002B release of its Extensible Markup Language (XML) specification for public review and comment. OTA develops XML-based communications specifications to support the efficient and effective exchange of travel industry information via the Internet. This Version 2002B specification "expands on the messages previously published, offering additional opportunities for trading partners within the travel industry to communicate with one another." Messages have been re-defined according to OTA's published Best Practices Guidelines for all of its XML data assets. The general OTA guideline approach is "to maximize component (elements/attributes) reuse for the highly diverse and yet closely related travel industry data; this is accomplished by building messages via context-driven component assembly. The application of best practices design and the re-definition of the XML component constructs to the specification supports a path of seamless integration and enhanced interoperability within all disciplines of the travel sector. 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. Together with an OTA interoperability committee to coordinate WG efforts, the OTA working groups develop open Internet-compatible messages using XML." OTA 2002A Specification. A 'Final' OTA 2002A Message Specification was released August 23, 2002. It presents a brief description [24 pages] of the OTA 2002A Specification RQ/RS message pairs. The 2002A Specification "marks the initial application of the 2001C OTA Best Practices section to the complete OTA message payload and fragment documents, namely 2001B and 2001C message documents. In the process, OTA has reviewed every component developed within 2001B and 2001C message sets to address both the interoperability of the components and to maximize the reusability and extension of these components. This provides for a better, more complete solution for all OTA messages. The OTA 2002A Specification is published as a PDF document that describes the XML-based message sets, together with a ZIP archive that contains the actual XML message sets." [June 26, 2002] OpenTravel Alliance XML Specification Supports Multiple Travel Verticals. An announcement from the OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) describes a public review release of the enhanced Version 2002A XML Message Specification. This version of the OTA specification "addresses multiple levels of interoperability across the travel verticals, enabling organizations of all sizes to implement complex online transactions. It incorporates cross-industry components such as customer, payment and flight arrival information in many of the OTA messages so that travel trading partners will more easily be able to communicate essential traveler information." New release materials include an overview document and a collection of some 103 OTA XML Schema Definition files. "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." The review period ends July 19, 2002 and final publication of this OTA specification is scheduled for July 31, 2002. [Full context] Specification 2002A released 2002-06: [October 15, 2002] "Expedia Books Itself a Hotel Deal." By Troy Wolverton. In CNET News.com (October 15, 2002). "Hotels could soon find it easier to sell rooms online, thanks to an acquisition announced on Tuesday by online travel company Expedia. Expedia is purchasing Newtrade Technologies, a Montreal-based software development company. Newtrade is developing an XML-based system that will allow hotels to send information about their room availability and pricing to various distribution networks via the Internet. Expedia and Newtrade plan to introduce the new technology early next year, the companies said... Part of the problem hotels have faced is that unlike airfares, which are largely distributed online, lodging information has generally been distributed via fax to companies such as Expedia or to global distribution systems, said Jared Blank, an online travel analyst for Jupiter Research. It's been done that way for a long time, and the distribution companies have had little incentive to change, he said. Newtrade's system may not be an immediate incentive for distributors to change their ways, but it could help Expedia itself get access to a wider selection of rooms and rates, Blank said Newtrade's technology will work with other companies besides just Expedia, Charlier said. Because it is based on XML (Extensible Markup Language), Newtrade's software will be able to connect the various systems used by hotels to manage their room inventory with the systems used by the various distribution networks, she said..." ['Newtrade has developed and implemented XML interfaces that conform to OTA specifications, ensuring seamless connectivity between hotel legacy systems and the multiple points of distribution. Using Web services, their solutions connect to a travel supplier's inventory management system, provide yield and rate management capabilities and handle software, hardware and networking issues to lower infrastructure and operating costs.'] See details in the announcement: "Expedia, Inc. to Acquire Newtrade Technologies Inc. Acquisition will fuel Newtrade's development of innovative open-standard technology for electronic distribution of hotel rates and availability." [February 28, 2002] OpenTravel Alliance Publishes XML Specifications Supporting Travel Industry Messaging. The OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) has announced the publication of Versions 2001B and 2001C of its Extensible Markup Language (XML) specifications, which "help all sectors of travel communicate more efficiently and effectively by simplifying the implementation and transmission of complex electronic transactions." The 2001B Message Specification "presents the specifications for the exchange of messages in the travel industry, covering travel services for airlines, car rentals, hotels, and travel insurance. It uses the XML for the exchange of these messages transmitted under Internet protocols. The 2001C Messages document contains Air Availability messages, Package Tours messages, and Golf Tee Times messages. This Infrastructure document also specifies a mapping for the distribution of OTA messages on top of ebXML messaging, and provides the framework for all OTA messages by completing the OTA Best Practices section. The OTA has chosen XML as the vehicle for its specifications, determining that it offers a common framework flexible enough to be used between systems throughout the travel industry." The new OTA specifications build upon ebXML, W3C, ISO, and IATA standards. [Full context] Specifications released 2002-02:
[January 10, 2002] New OpenTravel Alliance XML Specification Supports ebXML-OTA Mapping. The OpenTravel Alliance recently announced the release of an OTA Version 2001C XML Specification, available for public review through January 31, 2002. The new version includes the mapping of OTA payloads onto an ebXML framework, consistent with OTA's recommendation of ebXML "as a viable infrastructure for the exchange of OTA messages across private and public networks." Two prose documents have been published along with the new XML Schemas, sample instances, and best-practices information: (1) The OpenTravel Alliance 2001C Infrastructure Specification "presents the specifications for the underlying infrastructure for the exchange of messages in the travel industry, covering travel services for airlines, car rentals, hotels, and travel insurance. It uses the Extensible Markup Language (XML) for the exchange of these messages transmitted under Internet protocols and includes a detailed mapping onto ebXML Message Services. (2) The OpenTravel Alliance 2001C Message Specification "presents the specifications for the Air Availability RQ/RS message pairs, the Package Tours RQ/RS message pairs, and the Golf Tee Times RQ/RS message pairs. The OTA working groups, together with an OTA interoperability committee to coordinate their efforts, develop open Internet-compatible messages using XML." [Full context] [October 02, 2001] OpenTravel Alliance Releases Version 2001A Combined Specification for Hospitality and Travel Industries. 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." [Full context] [August 11, 2000] 'Final' V1 specification, 2000-08. - OTA v1 Messages Specification, final. All files in one zip file including examples. See (1) OpenTravel Alliance version 1 specification [10 July 2000, OTA_v1.dtd] and (2) OpenTravel Alliance version 1 specification [Non-versioned messages, 10 July 2000, OTA_Nv.dtd]. [August 11, 2000] OpenTravel Alliance Message Specifications, Version 1. Volume 1, Specifications Document. Prepared in partnership with Data Interchange Standards Association. 10-July-2000. 120 pages. "This document presents the specifications for customer profile messages in the travel industry, covering airlines, car rentals, hotels, and other travel services. It uses the Extensible Markup Language (XML) for the exchange of these messages transmitted under Internet protocols. The specifications include mandatory requirements and recommendations for these messages, covering security and privacy, the base technical architecture, travel business content, and administrative exchanges." [August 11, 2000] OpenTravel Alliance Message Specifications -- Version 1. Volume 2. Appendices. Prepared in partnership with Data Interchange Standards Association. 10-July-2000. Contains Document type definitions, Additional Update process examples, Attribute/ element cross reference chart, Additional hotel attributes, Excerpts from Standard for Internet Commerce, RFC 2119, References, Change log. [March 01, 2000] Version 1 Message Specifications are now available for public comment; the comment period closes 31 March 2000.
[August 01, 2001] "OpenTravel Alliance Endorses ebXML." - "Industry support for ebXML continues to build as the international travel consortium, OpenTravel Alliance (OTA), announced endorsement of ebXML in its new specification. ebXML, sponsored by UN/CEFACT and OASIS, provides a standard method to exchange messages, conduct trading relationships, communicate data in common terms and define and register business processes. OTA released for member review new specifications for requesting availability and booking reservations in the airline and car rental industries. These OTA specifications unite OTA and Hospitality Industry Technology Integration Standards (HITIS) respective customer profiles into one comprehensive profile. In conjunction with the Travel Technology Initiative, (TTI), based in the United Kingdom, OTA also released draft specifications that provide a message exchange between wholesalers and tour operators for booking holiday package tours. These specifications will utilize the ebXML secure messaging structure as a recommended reference envelope layer that provides OTA specification users with a unified, interoperable solution. OTA's next publication, projected for November 2001, will map the OTA infrastructure to the ebXML Message Handling Service specification, v1.0. 'Industry groups developing their own XML-based specifications can't operate as islands. Cross-industry communication is as important as exchanging messages within a community,'" explained OTA President Mike Kistner, Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Best Western International. 'By recommending ebXML, we ensure that OTA messages adhere to the international standard and enable implementations of OTA specifications to meet the requirements of the global marketplace.' [And] 'Endorsement by OTA is a major milestone for ebXML. The travel industry joins other communities who have integrated ebXML, including automotive, information technology, electronic components and semiconductor manufacturing and retail,'" noted Bill Smith of Sun Microsystems, president of OASIS and member of the ebXML Executive Committee. Smith referenced similar announcements of ebXML support from Covisint, the Global Commerce Initiative (GCI), Open Applications Group and RosettaNet... The OpenTravel Alliance 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 agencies, hotels, leisure suppliers, non-suppliers, tour operators, and trade associations. These travel industries, together with an OTA interoperability committee to coordinate their efforts, are developing open Internet-compatible messages using XML data terms." See "Electronic Business XML Initiative (ebXML)." [October 23, 2000] "AH&MA And OTA Reach Final Agreement On Cooperation." - "The American Hotel and Motel Association (AH&MA) and the OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) have finalized their agreement for cooperation in developing technology standards for the hospitality and travel industry. Under the terms of a definitive agreement reached, AH&MA will make its Central Reservation System (CRS) and Golf Tee-Time Standards available to OTA, which will undertake all future development in these areas. In a continuing process, OTA will provide its further development to AH&MA for inclusion within its American National Standards Institute (ANSI) process. Within that process, AH&MA will seek public comment and accreditation of its Hospitality Industry Technology Integration Standards (HITIS) including those OTA specifications addressing the hospitality CRS environment. This five-year agreement provides for ongoing cooperation in the development of technology standards within the hospitality industry. AH&MA and OTA have agreed to exchange committee seats in each other's technical working committees and at the respective board levels. In addition, AH&MA has granted OTA a non-exclusive license to use the HITIS standards as the foundation for its CRS Specification, while AH&MA will continue development within Phase II of its standards. Planned Phase II HITIS standards include: (1) Payment Processing & Accounting; (2) Food, Beverage & Retail Management; (3) Casino Management & Player Tracking; (4) Smart Card Technology; (5) Legacy System Interfaces. In addition to integrating the HITIS CRS Standards, OTA will be responsible for all other development within the hospitality CRS domain. AH&MA, founded in 1910, is a federation of state lodging associations throughout the United States, with some 11,000 property members worldwide, representing more than 1.4 million rooms. AH&MA provides operations, technical, educational, marketing, and communications services plus governmental affairs representation to the lodging industry. OTA, which began in May 1999, now has over 150 members representing influential names in all sectors of the travel industry, including air, car rental, hotel, travel agencies, technology providers and related suppliers. The Alliance is comprised of five working groups air, car, hotel, leisure supplier, and non-supplier together with an interoperability committee to coordinate their efforts. OTA defined its open messages with XML that makes it possible to exchange business data seamlessly among different systems, companies, and industries over the World Wide Web." HITIS/OTA Agreement - Contact Robert Elliott [September 27, 2000] "Airlines turn to XML to try to fix e-ticket transfer problems." By Michael Meehan. In ComputerWorld (September 25, 2000). "After a summer plagued by record numbers of delayed and cancelled flights, the top U.S. airlines have decided to try to fix the clunky links between their individual electronic-ticketing systems in an effort to make it easier for stranded passengers who don't have paper tickets to rebook flights with a different carrier. Jim Young, managing director for cost measurement and distribution strategy at Continental Airlines Inc. in Houston, said here last week that an XML-based standard for sharing electronic-ticket information is being developed by the OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) travel-industry trade association. Young is the chairman of the OTA, which includes all of the leading international airlines, computerized reservations systems and hotel chains. At the eTravelWorld conference, Young said the OTA is looking to fast-track the XML interoperability standard in hopes of eliminating one of the major impediments blocking a full conversion to electronic tickets. A draft of the standard is expected by year's end, and Young said a finished version could be in place before next summer's travel season starts. Currently, passengers who have electronic tickets have to wait in line to receive a paper ticket from their initial airline if a flight has been canceled and they want to try to switch to another carrier. In addition, airline employees must fill out a handwritten "flight interruption manifest" for each ticketholder who's looking to rebook elsewhere. But with an industry-standard setup based on XML, Young said, a passenger's electronic ticket could automatically be transferred to another airline's system. The common XML technology would provide an easy-to-process format for all the airlines and could make electronic tickets more valuable than paper ones, he added. "We want to create an environment where we're treating our electronic customers better than our paper-ticket customers, which is certainly the opposite of what it is today," Young said. Al Lenza, vice president of distribution planning at Minneapolis-based Northwest Airlines Inc., said 67% of his company's domestic flyers use electronic tickets -- making it imperative that the transferability problem be solved. At the conference, executives from Chicago-based United Air Lines Inc. and Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines Inc. also pledged their commitment to fixing the problem..." [August 11, 2000] "OpenTravel Alliance Publishes Customer Profile Specifications and Submits them to ebXML." - "The OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) published today its Version 1 specifications that gives the travel industry one universal format for collecting and exchanging customer preferences among airlines, hotels, car rental companies, tour operators, travel agencies, and related services. OTA has provided copies of the version to the ebXML meeting that is being held in San Jose, CA, this week. The OTA customer profile has innovative features to make life easier for travelers. The common format allows the travel industry and its web sites to collect information on identification and preferences only once and exchange it with suppliers of travel services as well as their intermediaries. The specification lets customers define collections of travel service in terms of their own varied needs, such as business travel or the annual church retreat. OTA Version 1 also contains comprehensive privacy features that enable the customer to control any transfer of personal data. The built-in controls allow only specified parts of the profile to be exchanged. The OTA specifications' use of Extensible Markup Language (XML) helps make e-business more accessible to a wider number of companies by defining common industry terms for Internet-based data exchange. The specifications include electronic XML validation rules, called document type definitions, as well as many sample OTA messages. The drafts of these that were issued in February 2000 generated comments from all over the world, from both inside and outside the travel industry. The final specifications released today incorporate these, which have significantly strengthened Version 1. They can be freely downloaded from www.opentravel.org. OTA participates in the Electronic Business XML (ebXML) initiative to develop a single XML message infrastructure to facilitate communication between different businesses and industries in different countries. ebXML used OTA's draft sample messages as part of its proof of concept tests at its May meeting in Brussels, Belgium. As a further contribution to ebXML, OTA is providing its Version 1 specifications. OTA is keen to align its specifications with those in other industries, including the work of the CPExchange initiative, and sees ebXML as an effective way of doing this. With over 150 members representing influential names in all sectors of the travel industry, including air, car, hotel, travel agencies, technology providers and other travel related suppliers, the Alliance is comprised of five work groups air, car, hotel, leisure supplier, and non-supplier. These groups, together with an interoperability committee to coordinate their efforts, are developing open Internet-compatible messages using XML data terms." [cache] [May 12, 2000] "ebXML Uses OpenTravel Alliance Specification for Early Tests." - "In its first plenary session, the electronic business XML or ebXML initiative announced two of its project teams will test early deliverables with content based on the OpenTravel Alliance specification. The ebXML initiative is developing the first common global e-business message structure and syntax based on the Extensible Markup Language or XML, and is holding its second working meeting this week in Brussels. An ebXML project team focusing on transport, routing, and packaging will develop a prototype using sample messages based on version 1 of the OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) specification. This specification, released for public comment in February 2000, provides a common customer profile for travel suppliers, intermediaries, and customers. The sample ebXML messages will test early versions of the initiative's message structure, as well as common addressing and security data. The test messages will generate and update sample customer profiles created by a travel agency and stored by an airline and car rental company. Another ebXML project team focusing on core components will test concepts for a system to generate sample data items common across business domains. This group will test items from the travel, tourism, and leisure industries using the OTA specification as a source. This ebXML team will test items from manufacturing and the international supply chain as well. The ebXML mission is to provide an open XML-based infrastructure enabling the global use of electronic business information in an interoperable, secure and consistent manner by all parties. Five individuals from OTA member companies are taking part in the May 2000 ebXML meetings, representing both their respective organizations and the Alliance. In addition, the Data Interchange Standards Association, that provides technical and administrative management for OTA, has two staff members participating in the current meetings. OTA, which began in May 1999, has over 120 members representing influential names in all sectors of the travel industry, including air, car rental, hotel, travel agencies, technology providers and related suppliers. The Alliance is comprised of five working groups air, car, hotel, leisure supplier, and non-supplier together, with an interoperability committee to coordinate their efforts. OTA defined its open messages with XML, the new high-powered language that makes it possible to exchange business data seamlessly among different systems, companies, and industries over the World Wide Web. The OTA will hold its annual OTA Advisory Forum on May 17, 2000 in Tempe, AZ." [March 15, 2000] "DISA Propels New OpenTravel Alliance Customer Profile Specification." - "The new OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) customer profile message specification, developed in under 10 months, got a big boost from the support by the Data Interchange Standards Association (DISA). Beginning in September 1999, DISA provided technical and management assistance that culminated in OTA's version 1 released for public comment on Feb. 29. 'DISA offered much of the technical expertise to bring together the contributions of professionals from airlines, hotels, travel agencies, car rental companies, leisure travel vendors, and technology support services,' said OTA Board Chairman Jim Young of Continental Airlines. Providing an executive director, standards manager, and membership manager, DISA took the ideas of over 100 corporate members and crafted them into a specifications document now available for review on the OTA web site at www.opentravel.org. The OTA web site also offers a live demonstration of the customer profile that uses validated messages based on Extensible Markup Language (XML), the new high-powered web language designed for e-business. OTA, which only began in May 1999, now has over 100 members representing influential names in all sectors of the travel industry, including air, car rental, hotel, travel agencies, technology providers and related suppliers. The Alliance is comprised of five working groups air, car, hotel, leisure supplier, and non-supplier together with an interoperability committee to coordinate their efforts. OTA defined its open messages with XML that makes it possible to exchange business data seamlessly among different systems, companies, and industries over the World Wide Web. Promoting e-commerce in a global marketplace, DISA provides technical and management services to standards and XML specification development organizations, including the Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12, OTA, the Interactive Financial Exchange Forum, the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, and the XML/EDI Group." [June 23, 2000] "Newmarket Assembles Forum to Accelerate E-Commerce Standards in Hospitality Industry. With standard formats being developed for Internet-based data exchange, top technology professionals assess what the hospitality industry must do to drive B2B e-commerce across a global economy." - "Using HITEC 2000 as an industry platform, Newmarket International, Inc. gathered an interconnected community of hospitality professionals, including representatives from the American Hotel & Motel Association (AH&MA), the Hospitality Industry Technology Integration Standards (HITIS) Advisory Committee, the OpenTravel Alliance (OTA), Microsoft Corp., and major hospitality corporations such as Wyndham International, Inc. to accelerate momentum in e-commerce standardization. The forum communicated to attending media and industry leaders how the major players will cooperate to adopt and drive open standards to create the most efficient business practices. With specifications from both OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) and AH&MA's Hospitality Industry Technology Integration Standards (HITIS), Advisory Committee an Internet commerce trade exchange will span suppliers and markets throughout the hospitality industry. 'Now that HITIS has completed the extension of our Phase I standards to XML, we are eager to see the industry implement standard content and messaging industry-wide,' said Bob Elliott of the HITIS Advisory Committee. 'With XML as the common denominator, each participant in this vast industry can adapt to the standard depending on where each fits in the market. I am pleased that HITIS and the OTA are now committed to working together to develop one common standard for reservation booking in the travel industry'. 'The standards are being set, the road has been opened; XML is the way,' said Steve Giblin. 'Our use of XML for lead exchange among our publishing partners and Newmarket customers has verified how quickly existing systems can interface and adapt to emerging solutions.' Newmarket created MeetingBroker.com, which now serves as a testimonial to the capabilities of XML and open standards, and which will enable Newmarket to contribute effectively to further developments in HITIS and OTA standards. AH&MA's HITIS has been at work for several years developing interchange formats to link hotels' front office, back office and central reservations systems to share information in a common format. Both OTA and HITIS have selected XML (eXtensible Markup Language) as the data transfer format which makes technology development and maintenance easiest." See XML-based Standards - 'The HITIS Initiative has completed the extension of Phase I Standards to eXtensible Markup Language (XML).' [March 22, 2000] "HEDNA's Hotel Distribution Expertise Unites with OpenTravel Alliance Initiatives." - "In a overwhelming rally of support, the Hotel Electronic Distribution Network Association (HEDNA) joined forces with the OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) to provide a foundation for the hotel contribution to OTA's first draft specification that addresses the complex subject of customer profiles. OTA's version 1 utilized the Hotel Descriptive Content Specifications, created by the Distribution Action Committee of HEDNA. Representing HEDNA membership and maintaining an observer status on the OTA Board of Directors, HEDNA has joined the Alliance and will continue to influence the direction of distribution technology and standards for hotel companies. OTA's version 1, developed in under 10 months and released for 30-day public review Feb. 29, uses Extensible Markup Language (XML) the new high powered language designed for e-business. Representing the specifications for customer profiles, version 1 cuts across all sectors of the travel industry, including hotels, airlines, car rentals and other travel services. Developing version 1 required OTA to work with groups, such as HEDNA, to create a common vocabulary for the travel industry, taking advantage of the flexible nature of XML that allows for later growth if needed. OTA, which only began in May 1999, now has over 100 members representing influential names in all sectors of the travel industry, including air, car rental, hotel, travel agencies, technology providers and related suppliers. The Alliance is comprised of five working groups air, car, hotel, leisure supplier, and non-supplier together with an interoperability committee to coordinate their efforts. OTA defined its open messages with XML, which makes it possible to exchange business data seamlessly among different systems, companies, and industries over the World Wide Web." [alternate URL] [March 29, 2000] "GetThere Application Network Ties Corporate Travel to Business-to-Business Framework. GetThere Teams With Industry Leaders to Link B2B Travel With Major Systems In Expense Reporting and B2B Commerce." - "GetThere.com, Inc., a leading provider of Internet-based business-to-business travel procurement systems, today announced the GetThere Application Network. The Application Network includes a new XML standard interface to link B2B applications with GetThere's Internet travel procurement system. Also a part of the Application Network, GetThere is teaming with several industry leaders to establish open communication between their systems and the GetThere Exchange, including Ariba, Captura, Concur Technologies, Extensity, and Gelco. The GetThere Application Network provides corporations with a seamless path to integrate their GetThere online travel procurement system with applications such as human resources management, expense management and other B2B commerce systems, using a standards-based extensible mark-up language (XML) interface. As an example of an integrated solution, corporate users booking their travel online can automatically populate an expense report with the travel expense information. After adding other expenses from the trip, the traveler sends the electronic report for approvals and reimbursement. In a different scenario, corporations that have had success with employees adopting Internet travel procurement can begin adding procurement of other goods or services in the same familiar portal on the company's intranet. .. The new GetThere Application Network includes an interface that enables seamless integration between the GetThere's travel procurement system and other business applications. It uses XML as the standard language between GetThere and other systems, and adds special features, such as expense report pre-population, data streaming, enhanced reporting and authentication/security, as well as user profile synchronization. The Open Travel Alliance (OTA) XML-based interface is a core component of the GetThere Application Network. GetThere and many of its partners are members of the OTA, which seeks to create and promote industry standards for data exchange in the travel industry. GetThere is promoting development of the OTA standard across the industry, ensuring interoperability between travel procurement applications and other leading enterprise applications." [February 29, 2000] "OpenTravel Alliance's New XML Specification Creates a Common Customer Profile for Travelers." - "Charged with crafting Internet specifications based on the Extensible Markup Language (XML), the OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) released today a draft of its first specification for public comment. OTA version 1 tackles the complex subject of customer profiles that cuts across travel industry sectors. This first specification demonstrates the ability of OTA's infrastructure and process to achieve this goal, and do it quickly. OTA developed the specification with a key objective of letting customers enter their basic data and travel preferences just once, no matter how many travel suppliers and intermediaries are involved in a trip. Achieving this goal required OTA to create a common vocabulary for the travel industry, taking advantage of the extensible nature of XML that still allows for more growth later if needed. A live demonstration of OTA version 1 messages shows that travel companies can begin using the specification right away. The demonstration, accessible from the OTA web site, www.opentravel.org, lets visitors create, read, update and delete simple customer profiles with valid XML messages. McCord Travel and Airline Automation Inc. developed the demonstration on behalf of OTA. OTA, which only began in May 1999, now has over 100 members representing influential names in all sectors of the travel industry, including air, car rental, hotel, travel agencies, technology providers and related suppliers. The Alliance is comprised of five working groups -- air, car, hotel, leisure supplier, and non-supplier -- together, with an interoperability committee to coordinate their efforts. OTA defined its open messages with XML, the new high-powered language that makes it possible to exchange business data seamlessly among different systems, companies, and industries over the World Wide Web." [February 23, 2000] "Extensity Joins OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) to Help Make the Online Travel Market More Efficient and Dynamic. Participation Builds on Extensity's Mission to Help Customers Seamlessly Access Business Content, Commerce and Services to Improve The Way They Do Business." - "Extensity Inc., a provider of Internet-based workforce optimization solutions, today announced that it has joined the OpenTravel Alliance (OTA). The OTA is a group of senior executives from various facets of the travel industry, including lodging, airline carriers, credit card issuers, and online booking and computer reservation system companies, who are helping drive technology standards that will make the electronic exchange of travel related information easier. Extensity's participation builds on Extensity's mission for delivering technology that enables seamless access to business content, commerce and services through its suite of Internet-based applications to improve productivity of employees across the enterprise. By ensuring the free flow of travel information over the Internet, the OTA's goal is to help customers be more efficient in researching and booking travel online. With standards built on XML specifications, customers will be able to easily mix and match trip-related information from multiple sites rather than stepping through disconnected sites and processes for online travel." [February 04, 2000] "Data Interchange Standards Association Becomes New Host Of XML/EDI Group." - "The XML/EDI Group, the largest grass-roots organization advocating the Extensible Markup Language (XML) for business exchanges over the Internet, has joined with the Data Interchange Standards Association (DISA) for management of its business and technical services. The XML/EDI Group and DISA made the announcement today at the Electronic Business XML (ebXML) meeting in Orlando, Fla. The XML/EDI Group becomes the latest client of DISA's rapidly growing Collaborative Services Division. Like other Collaborative Services clients, DISA will host the XML/EDI Group's web site and e-mail discussion list, as well as provide a venue for regular meetings of the group. DISA will also provide the XML/EDI Group with publishing and administrative services. The XML/EDI Group began in July 1997 as an ad hoc collection of a few professionals and volunteers in various industries dedicated to promoting and guiding the future of XML standards and products applied to electronic data interchange (EDI). The Group has grown to about 1,700 members focusing on the technology of incorporating XML with e-business particularly for smaller enterprises that have not before been able to use EDI. The XML/EDI Group has a popular e-mail discussion list that generates a continuous flow of serious yet lively exchanges on XML technology for e-business. The Group has written guidelines for XML's use with EDI and proposed specifications for repositories of XML/EDI specifications used by industry groups. The Group's activities have encouraged development of e-business standards in both North America and Europe where the group has active chapters. DISA, a Virginia-based not-for-profit association, is the leading provider of educational and networking forums on e-business. Promoting e-commerce in a global marketplace, DISA provides technical and management services to standards and XML specification development organizations, including the OpenTravel Alliance..." See "ANSI ASC X12/XML and DISA." "OpenTravel Alliance Joins Forces with DISA." OpenTravel FAQ document "ANSI ASC X12/XML and DISA." DISA ASC X12
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