The OpenTravel Alliance (OpenTravel), the travel industry’s leading distribution specification development organization, announced seven new projects as part of its 2007B specification version.

“As OpenTravel schemas prove their worth in the basic distribution functions of inquiry, modify and book, our members are asking for more,” said John Turato, chair of the OpenTravel board of directors and vice president of technology for the Avis Budget Group. “In response, we’ve formed project teams to address these needs and foster interoperability in the long tail of electronic distribution in the travel industry.”

The projects touch every vertical in the travel industry, some without being vertical-specific. Included in the 2007B projects are:

  • A rate plan message for hotels that allow channels to pull or query plans addressed at particular segments of guests, led by SynXis
  • A message to support fare families or attribute selling of airfares, to support flight experience customization to passengers, led by Datalex
  • Enhanced content distribution messages to better control the distribution and management of digital assets and other rich media, led by Hilton and Pegasus
  • Messages to support tours, including adventure and other experiential travel increasingly sought by today’s travelers. This project team is headed by Viator, an online activities, events and tour specialist and an active member of OpenTravel.

"The OpenTravel body has been working 'behind the scenes' for years now making the process of finding and booking air, car and hotel easier for online travelers,” said Rod Cuthbert, CEO of Viator. “As long-time supporters of open standards, Viator is excited to see OpenTravel now addressing Tours and Destination Activities. By enabling easy 'direct-connects' within the distribution networks, we are sure this will only enhance the ease with which travellers will be able to find and book these products online."

Additional projects include the creation of a standard GDS back- office feed message for travel agencies, and rate and rate rules notifications for rental car companies.

Upcoming OpenTravel Activities

John Turato, chair of the OpenTravel board of directors and vice president of technology for Avis Budget Group, will speak at EyeForTravel’s North American Travel Distribution Summit on a panel entitled “Decide the Most Effective Way to Lower your Distribution Costs” on 10 October 2007 in Las Vegas.

About the OpenTravel Alliance
The OpenTravel Alliance is passionate about solving the problems inherent with connecting multiple systems within the complex travel distribution arena.

OpenTravel's mission is to engineer specifications that make data transmission flow smoothly throughout travel, tourism and hospitality. OpenTravel creates, expands and drives adoption of open universal data specifications, including but not limited to the use of XML, for the electronic exchange of business information among all sectors of the travel industry.

With a diversified membership representing influential names in all sectors of the travel industry, OpenTravel is comprised of representatives from airlines, car rental firms, hotels, cruise lines, leisure suppliers, service providers, tour operators, travel agencies, and trade associations. Thousands of OpenTravel message structures are in use, carrying tens of millions of messages between trading partners every day.

For more information, visit .

Valyn Perini
Executive Director
+1 978 266 0032