ADR — Average Daily Rate. ADR is a hotel performance metric that is calculated by taking the room revenue over number of rooms sold. ADR is impacted by factors like the hotel location, seasonal period, competitor pricing, hotel type and reputation, events, and booking channels.
AHLA — American Hotel & Lodging Association. AHLA is the biggest hotel trade association in the United States. AHLA supports the industry through the promotion of market research, state and local policies, hotel training programs, and more.
ARC — Airlines Reporting Corporation. ARC is responsible for managing transactions between airlines and US-based travel agencies. The company is owned by nine major airlines, and it was established to provide data, distribution, and financial services for the travel industry. It also accredits US travel agencies and corporate travel departments to sell airline tickets, and offers data information services and analysis through aggregated data.
ASTA — American Society of Travel Advisors. ASTA is a group of travel professionals who globally support travel agencies, the industry, and the public. They also handle training and education for travel advisors at every level. In February 2025, ASTA launched an initiative called ASTA Corporate for corporate travel agencies and travel management companies. It will offer dedicated staff, research activities, and exclusive events for the business travel industry.
CRS — Central Reservation System. CRS could be used in reference to any supplier, but as technology has evolved mostly has been replaced with terminology like GDS (global distribution system) or PMS (property management system). An advanced CRS houses information supplier inventory, availability and rates. It shares this data across all distribution channels, and then syncs incoming online and offline bookings in real time. Specifically with hotels, it also integrates with other modules in a hotel’s PMS, such as front desk operations, revenue management, payment processing and data collection and reporting.
CSR — Corporate Social Responsibility. CSR is a business model that includes accountability for how its operations and policies impact such issues as environment, human rights, philanthropy, local economics, diversity and employee well-being. Travel managers might consider their company’s commitment to CSR as a factor in designing a travel policy or deciding among suppliers that may—or may not—align with their company’s CSR culture.
CSRD — Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. CSRD increases the burden on companies to report on the environmental, social and governance impact of their activities. It takes effect in phases, based on company size. CSRD specifically requires business travel emissions reporting as part a section on climate change that includes a breakdown of “significant” Scope 3 indirect emissions. As the rules are phased in, companies that operate businesses of any significant size in the EU will be required to report—not just companies headquartered in Europe.
CTD — Corporate Travel Department. A CTD is a unit of an organization that acts as an in-house travel agency. It is responsible for purchasing travel services and distributing them to the organization’s employees. In the US, the Airlines Reporting Corporation can accredit CTDs. A CTD can outsource most, some, or none of its travel functions, usually to a travel management company. The only function it can’t outsource is the actual legal and fiduciary agreement between the CTD and ARC.
CVB — Convention and Visitors Bureau. CVB is short for Convention and Visitors Bureau. It is also known as a Destination Marketing Organization or DMO. A CVB is responsible for promoting a location and providing information to travelers. Part of a CVB’s remit can also be to persuade organizers to hold their meetings, incentives, conferences, and events in their area. Travel managers preparing for their company to attend business events might want to check out a specific destination’s CVB to get a wider view on lodging, dining options, transportation services, nearby attractions, discounts, taxes, relevant safety and security measures, and other travel considerations.
ETIAS — European Travel Information and Authorization System. The European Travel Information and Authorization System is a planned electronic authorization system for visa-exempt visitors to the Schengen Area and Cyprus. ETIAS applicants are expected to pay a €7 fee and once approved, each ETIAS will be valid for three years or until the expiry date of the travel document. After facing some delays, it is expected to launch in October 2025.
ERP — Enterprise Resource Planning. ERP software enables companies to manage day-to-day business operations. This could include tasks like accounting, project management, procurement, and more. Expense management platforms, which are often under a travel manager’s remit, may need to integrate with a larger ERP system.
FAA — Federal Aviation Administration. The Federal Aviation Administration has been a US government agency under the Department of Transportation since 1967. It was initially created as the Federal Aviation Agency in 1958. FAA’s duties include air traffic control, aviation personnel and aircraft certification, establishing standards for airports, and protecting US assets during the launch or re-entry of commercial space vehicles.
GBTA — Global Business Travel Association. The Global Business Travel Association is the largest member-focused organization for business travel. GBTA and its 8,000+ members account for the $1.48 trillion global corporate travel and meetings industry.
GDPR — General Data Protection Regulation. GDPR is a crucial component of privacy and human rights laws for European Union citizens. It governs the transfer of personal data outside the EU and European Economic Area. GDPR’s purpose is to enhance individuals’ control and rights over their personal data. All travel or transportation providers that collect or process data about an EU citizen are subject to GDPR compliance.
GDS — Global Distribution System. A GDS is a worldwide computerized reservation system. It serves as a conduit between travel bookers and suppliers, like hotels and other travel-related businesses. GDS shows product, price, and availability data to travel agents and online booking engines for automated transactions. It is commonly used to tap into the corporate travel market as it’s able to present hotels, flights, and car rentals in one simple interface, offering user convenience.
IATA — International Air Transport Association. IATA is a trade organization of the world’s airlines that focuses on industry safety, business simplification, environment, consulting and training services, and publication of industry standards. As of 2023, the association represented 317 airlines across 120 countries.
LCC — Low-Cost Carrier. LCCs focus on efficiencies and minimal operating costs that enable less expensive fares. Such carriers may forgo traditional airline amenities such as snacks, earphones and additional leg room. They may also charge extra fees for seat selection, priority boarding, carry-on baggage and other in-flight service attributes. Some examples of LCCs are EasyJet, Eurowings, JetBlue, Ryanair, Southwest Airlines and Spirit. Some are divisions of mainline carriers.
LoA — Letter of Agreement. A Letter of Agreement is a legally binding document that summarizes the terms two or more business parties have agreed on. In corporate travel management, LoA may include details like travel dates, locations, and other specific arrangements. It may be used for high-cost travel, so as to clearly state an approved budget. It may also be used for extended and international travel, to outline expenses like visas, accommodations, ground transportation, and meals. LoAs are typically concise, less time-consuming and less costly than a Request for Proposal. Thus, they are often better received by suppliers like hotel companies when it comes to negotiations and contracts.
LRA — Last Room Availability. Hotel agreements are sometimes structured to include last room availability, which sounds like it could mean the last room in the hotel would be sold to the corporate traveler under that agreement. However, hotels will fence the rooms that apply to such an agreement, limiting its applicability. That said, last room availability still offers value at certain high-occupancy-rate properties and will come at a premium in negotiations.
MCP — Model Context Protocol. First introduced by Anthropic in 2024, MCP has emerged as a standard from which AI models can connect to external data sources and software.
MICE — Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions. MICE is a tourism category that focuses on group travel and events professionals, schools, trade organizations or special interest groups. MICE significantly contribute to the global economy, since they drive demand for hospitality services, transportation, and local attractions.
NDC — New Distribution Capability. NDC is a data standard created by IATA in 2012 to modernize how airlines distribute and sell flight content. It enables carriers to share richer content and more customized offerings compared to what the established data standard now allows for.
NTSB — National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB is an independent U.S. government agency that manages investigations on civil transportation accidents and advocates for safety measures based on its findings. NTSB’s remit includes aviation, highway, pipeline, bridge, railroad and marine accidents.
OBT — Online Booking Tool. An OBT for business travel is a designated platform that enables users to make flight, hotel, and car rental bookings in one place, and the data is captured for management reporting. Using an OBT saves time and administrative efforts. OBTs may also drive savings, increase compliance and help meet wider company goals like sustainability, if they are configured to do so.
OTA — Online Travel Agency. An OTA is a website that serves as a travel search engine, some also facilitate bookings and some do not. OTAs aggregate providers across the travel industry so users may plan and book trips in one place, whether in package deals or a la carte. Some popular examples of OTAs are Expedia, Kayak, TripAdvisor, Airbnb, and Booking.com. Primarily for leisure travel, OTAs may also have “for business” divisions that cater to managed travel at different levels.
PNR — Passenger Name Record. A PNR is a digital record produced via an air travel booking in a global distribution system, generally through a travel agency or a traditional corporate online booking tool. It enables airline passengers and booking agents to manage their—or their clients’—reservations and allows passengers to complete the check-in process. It has been a useful meeting point for agencies, airlines and onsite airport handlers to share information. Direct bookings on airline dot-coms, however, have shown some limitations in the traditional PNR. These limitations have become a sticking point for some airline commercial strategies, and have been a key driver of airline shifts toward New Distribution Capability.
RevPAR — Revenue Per Available Room. RevPAR is a metric used in the hospitality industry to measure hotel performance. The measurement is calculated by multiplying a hotel's average daily rate (ADR) by its occupancy rate. Travel managers pay attention to RevPAR to understand the strength of the margins hotels are driving on room nights. It can help inform hotel program negotiations, especially when analyzed on a market-by-market level.
RFI — Request for Information. In business travel, RFIs are usually the first part of the travel procurement process and can help make buyers aware of the solutions that suppliers have to offer. Travel buyers can use an RFI to narrow their supplier targets prior to issuing an RFP (see below).
RFP — Request for Proposal. An RFP is the foundation of a formal business travel supplier sourcing process. It's used to learn details about and invite bids from airlines, hotel, car rental companies, travel management companies, meetings management firms and tech suppliers. Not every sourcing project includes an RFP, but some companies require it on a regular basis. A cottage industry of consultants and third-party suppliers has arisen to help buyers develop, refine, send and analyze RFPs.
RFQ — Request for Quotation. An RFQ happens when a business asks vendors for the pricing details on specific goods or services. RFQs are typically used for cost comparisons, when a company already knows what they want from a supplier. For corporate travel managers, evaluating and negotiating prices is key in the vendor selection process.
SAF — Sustainable Aviation Fuel. Sustainable Aviation Fuel is an alternative fuel made from non-petroleum feedstock. In the European Union, the word “sustainable” in the term has been questioned and is being replaced by “alternative.” Using SAF reduces emissions from air transportation over the lifecycle of the fuel. Most of those savings come in the fuel production process, not from cleaner burning. Travel managers often need to know how SAF is utilized by existing or potential carriers, if they are aligning their travel programs with emissions reductions efforts.
SABA — Sustainable Aviation Fuel Buyers Alliance. The Sustainable Aviation Fuel Buyers Alliance, or SABA, is a nonprofit that aims to accelerate the path to net-zero aviation by driving investment in and adoption of high-integrity SAF. In April 2024, SABA committed to investing close to $200 million into the SAF market by agreeing to buy SAF certificates for almost 50 million gallons of SAF.
SLA — Service Level Agreement. A Service Level Agreement is a negotiated agreement between two parties where the level of service required is officially defined. Each specific area of the service scope should be under the same degree of scrutiny. For managed travel, service level agreements are regularly negotiated into travel management company contracts in terms of efficiency required. They may also be integrated into travel supplier contracts and, commonly, meetings contracts.
SME — Small and Midsize Enterprise. SME stands for Small and Midsize Enterprise, also known as Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise or Small and Midsize Business. An SME has a total employee count, assets, and revenue below a certain threshold. However, those thresholds aren't always the same across industries. For instance, Business Travel News categorizes SMEs in the U.S. as companies that have $20 million or less in annual travel spend. In Europe, BTN considers those with €12 million or less in annual travel spend as SMEs.
SMM — Strategic Meetings Management. SMM is a term introduced by the Global Business Travel Association. SMM programs allow companies to manage their meetings and events via streamlined planning, preferred vendors, and meetings data. These programs also help in aligning meetings and business goals to save on costs and reduce risks.
TMC — Travel Management Company. TMC means Travel Management Company. TMCs traditionally handle all the details of business travel like arranging flights, hotel and car rental reservations, but they also support duty of care and business intelligence efforts. Today, TMCs also are among a travel manager’s key technology partners, offering booking tools, payment tools and other key tech components in managed travel. Because of their volume, they many also assist clients in getting better pricing for travel.
TSA — Transportation Security Administration. TSA oversees the security of transportation within and connecting to the U.S. TSA develops key policies to protect U.S. includes highways, railroads, bus networks, mass transit systems, ports, pipelines, as well as intermodal freight facilities. Its main function, however, is airport. TSA agents are responsible for screening passengers and baggage at over 450 U.S. airports.
TRM — Travel Risk Management. TRM is a way to identify, assess, and reduce risks to employees traveling on behalf of their companies. TRM leaders need to understand the laws and regulations on their employers’ duty of care responsibility in order to develop a response program for individual or broader crisis situations. Ideally, a TRM program will have a well-communicated and comprehensive policy, consistent employee training and support from senior leadership.
VAT — Value Added Tax. VAT is a broadly based consumption tax assessed on the value added to goods and services. The U.S. doesn’t have Value Added Tax, but it is common in Europe and some other regions. Specific goods and services are usually exempt from VAT in different jurisdictions, and some VAT can ultimately be reclaimed via VAT reclaim service providers.