This glossary defines common terms that you might see while working with TripBuilder or throughout our Help Center.

A

Accommodation 

Hotels can be manually created within the TripBuilder inventory or sourced via a connected supplier. Check your product plan for further information. 

 

ACRISS

The abbreviation ACRISS stands for Association of Car Rental Industry Systems Standards. The related standard to classify rental cars is also simply referred to as ACRISS. The Nezasa system supports ACRISS with its rental car feature. The official publication of the standard can be found on the association's website. Here is the PDF of the 2018 version standard that Nezasa uses.

 

Agency Commission

Compensation to advertising agencies is based on a percentage of gross revenue sold through such agencies.

 

Allotments

Allowance agreed by contract, whereby a supplier offers a number of service units to an intermediary (tour operator or agent, for example) who has the right to sell them by a given date, also known as the release date.

 

App

App instance is used for B2B purposes, such as stand-alone applications or access to the Cockpit. The users of the application are suppliers, tour operators, and agents. 

 

APS

This premium service is about accelerating the delivery of a particular software-driven capability, or enhancement of an existing one that Nezasa intends to undertake at some point in the future and make up part of the platform service.

 

Area

Location or geo points from a town, city, national park, etc. Areas are needed to create routes, templates, itineraries, etc.

 

Area Description 

Area Descriptions are used to describe an area, that is, a stop in an itinerary.

 

B

B2B

Business To Business: typically app-* where a travel agent is logged in and books for the traveller. 

 

B2C

Business To Consumer: typically embed-* where a traveller visits the website and looks at trips.

 

Base Service

An additional component that can be added to a template, such as Driver/Guide Options, Entrance Fees, Service Charges, etc.

 

Bed Bank

A wholesaler of hotel rooms that contracts with hotels and sells those rooms plus a margin to TOs and TAs, who then sell on to B2C clients. Rates made available from bed banks are quite standard. Only TOs who sell at a high volume are able to negotiate rates with the bed bank (and not with hotels directly). Bed banks usually provide good product coverage as their main intent is to cover all main touristic markets and top destinations.

 

Bistro

A rich-client application developed by Traveltainment for agencies. It allows the user to search for hotels, flights, cruises, and round trips. Currently integrated with the TripFinder product.

 

Blocked space

Seats reserved are to be sold to third-party companies at a discounted group rate.

 

C

Channel Manager

IT system that connects the Hotel Property Management System (PMS) - i.e. where hoteliers manage their allotments/rates - with external entities such as wholesalers, TOs, TAs and OTAs.

A channel manager software allows access to hotel rates and availability but with the TO/TA rate directly negotiated with the hotels by themselves. In addition, it is likely for a selection of hotels be available with rates to purchase. This is a different approach to bed banks, that offer connectivity at more standard rates.

 

Charter

Any travel services where a travel agency contracts with an air carrier and offers a charter for sale, with or without related ground transportation or hotel accommodations.

 

Charter Group

Group travel where a previously organised group travels together, usually on a custom itinerary.

 

Charter Service

The transportation of pre-formed groups (organised by someone other than the carrier), which have the exclusive use of the vehicle.

 

Checkout 

The process following the Planner, in which the itinerary can be booked. 

An object accompanies the user through a checkout process. For example, for a booking, a new Checkout in state BookingInitiated is created. Once the customer books, an order is attached. Also tracks alternative itineraries in case of booking changes.

 

Child Policy

The definition of child policy sets the conditions (rates, age range and validity) that people under 18 will pay for different types of products and trips.

 

Closeout

Finalisation of a tour, cruise, or similar group travel project, after which no further clients are accepted. Any unsold air or hotel space is released, and final lists and payments are sent to all suppliers.

 

Coach Bus

Similar to Motorcoach.

 

Cockpit

Area of the solution where an authorised user can access Customer Care, Inventory, and Settings.

 

Comp Rooms

Complimentary rooms, which a lodging facility provides without charge based on the total number of sleeping rooms occupied by a group.

 

Component 

A component is a priced travel service for a given date and PAX configuration that can be booked by a traveller as part of an itinerary. 

A component may be sourced from an external system or derived from a product managed in the TripBuilder inventory. For example, an accommodation component is an instance of an accommodation product for a certain number of PAX on a certain date. 

 

Conso and Consolidator

A consolidator is an outlet for airline tickets. It's a company that buys tickets from the airlines at wholesale or net prices (without any commission built into the price) and is, therefore, able to offer discounted prices (Private Fare Source).

These fares tend to have complex restrictions but can be cheaper than buying directly from the airline. Consolidator fares are found to have the most savings on international flights.

 

Custom Platform Services

A combination of services, including customer-specific software development delivered by Nezasa to address a particular business need and the ongoing support, operations and maintenance of this software service.

 

Customer Care 

Gives you access to all your customer itineraries. Here, you can search itineraries by customer name or ID, generate travel documentation, or confirm/cancel bookings.

 

CRS

Computer Reservation System
Software systems that allow travel agencies to search, book, change or cancel touristic services. (Integration) 

 

D

Day Trip

A one-day excursion to nearby areas and attractions, usually including meal stops before returning home.

 

DC

Distribution Channel

A distribution channel is the path a product or service takes on its way to market.

On TripBuilder, every instance setup is based on one default distribution channel. Some product plans include more than one DC. Additional distribution channels allow customers to sell under different brands, to different target markets or to create different channels between B2B or B2C.

 

Discovery

This general name identifies together the Discovery Overview and Discovery Details areas of TripBuilder. TripBuilder's Discovery API supports customers with a specific UI/UX implementation of Discovery.

 

Discovery Details

Presents a detailed view of a template after having selected one. Clicking on Start Planning leads to the Planner and instantiates the template, thereby creating an itinerary.

 

Discovery Overview

The page lists all templates for a white-label client, including filter functionalities and the option to start planning an individual trip from scratch. Clicking on the Show Details of a template card will lead to Discovery Details.

 

DMC

Destination Management Company
Inbound Tour Operator, arranging and handling trips in the destination.

 

Domestic Flight

Either an InternationalFlightComponent or a FlightPlaceholderComponent is found in either the legs or return connections of an itinerary or itinerary module. The term domestic refers only to the location of this component in the itinerary and has nothing to do with whether it's an international flight or not. 

 

Driver guided tours

A driver guided tour is a tour guided by an individual that operates a vehicle while providing commentary in a front-line position who leads participants (individual or groups) on tours, ensures that itineraries are followed, provides commentary in an informative and entertaining manner, and creates positive experiences for tour participants.

 

E

Embed

Embed instance serves B2C traffic for all customer integrations (for example, iframe in WordPress). Embed instances do not require an authenticated user. 

 

Escorted group tour

A group tour that features a tour director who travels with the group throughout the trip to provide sightseeing commentary and coordinate all group movements and activities.

 

EU-PRRL

EU guidelines for packaged tours.

 

Extension Programs

A fully arranged sub-tour is offered optionally at extra cost to buyers of a tour or cruise. Extensions may occur before, during, or after the basic travel program.

 

F

Family Fare 

A group of different travel options is included within the price of a ticket for a purchased flight. This can include options such as a larger baggage allowance, the ability to change the travel date or refund the ticket, seat selection, and more. (Fare Source) 

 

Fare Wizard GUI

AERTiCKET system to access PNRs booked through the API.

Hint: Some actions in the (such as “Re-Price” or "Ticketing") are only available if Nezasa is certified for the web service "Re-Pricing" or "Ticketing."

 

FIT

Free Independent Travel

Individual travel in which a tour operator has previously arranged blocks of rooms at various destinations in advance for use by individual travellers. These travellers travel independently, not in a group, usually by rental car or public transportation.

 

FIT (Module Type)

This Module type is used to create a dynamic tour and default transfer modules. A FIT template is a fully customisable itinerary template with a mixture of stops, modules, etc. 

 

Flat Rate

Specific room rates are negotiated by a group and a hotel.

 

FOC

Free of Charge

Some hotels provide free room accommodation for tour leaders/drivers, depending on the size of the group tour and booked rooms.

 

From-Price

A from-price is a minimal price for a travel service or an entire template. In case of templates, users can let the system generate from-prices or set them manually. 

 

G

Guaranteed Departure

A tour that doesn't require a minimum number of participants to take place and the tour operator will need to operationalise it.

 

GDS

Global Distribution System  
The GDS collects and consolidates travel data from a wide spectrum of service providers and allows agents to reserve airplane seats, rent cars, book hotel rooms, etc. This way, travel agencies don’t have to directly connect with hundreds of airlines, hotels, and other end providers.

 

GIATA MC

GIATA Multi Codes
Web service from GIATA, which offers general information about hotels/properties identified by their GIATA-ID.
Only provides base information like the GIATA ID (primary key), address information, contact information, and geo coordinates. Doesn't provide descriptive content (text descriptions or pictures). The content served over MC is provided and curated by GIATA. Also, part of MC is the mapping between tour operator-specific booking codes and the GIATA ID. This mapping is one of the core offerings of GIATA and allows the correlation of hotels from different sources.

API Docs: http://multicodes.giatamedia.com/webservice/specs/

 

GIATA MHG

GIATA Multilingual Hotel Guide
Web service from GIATA, which offers descriptions (text descriptions, structured facts, pictures) for hotels. The descriptions are curated and redacted by GIATA. All descriptions have the same structure generated based on facts (for example, the construction year of the hotel, room facilities, location of the hotel, and entertainment facilities). Descriptions are available in 24 languages.

API Docs: http://www.ghgml.giatamedia.com/webservice/specs/rest.en.html

 

GIATA IHG

GIATA Internet Hotel Guide
Web service from GIATA, which offers descriptions for tour operator (TO) specific travel offers. The descriptions are provided by the tour operators. Used to describe full round trips and also used to import TO-specific hotel descriptions. Some TOs write their hotel descriptions because they see it as a sales differentiator to have their hotel descriptions.
The content served over IHG is provided by the TOs and only distributed by GIATA. Content isn't curated or redacted by GIATA. Mostly only German content is available through IHG.

API Docs: http://www.giata-xml.de/dokumentation/GIATA-XML-en.html

 

GIT

Group Independent Travel

Group travel where individuals purchase a group package in which they'll travel with others along a pre-set itinerary.

 

Group

Several people, usually 10 or more, travel together. Group travel is often available at discounted rates.

 

Group Leader

A group leader is responsible for overseeing and distributing fair tasks to the members, ensuring clear instructions and procedures. Group leaders are mainly the ones leading the team towards their success.

 

Group Quotation

Setting up a group tour for a particular customer that can have one or multiple departure dates (Group Series), basing the quotation on group rates in all different products that are part of the trip.

 

Group Rate

Negotiated hotel rates for conventions, trade shows, meetings, tours or incentive groups. Room rate charged by a hotel for a group of 10 or more guests.

 

Group Series

A tour that is available with several regular departures, for instance: weekly/monthly departures (every Monday, once a month on a particular day of the week).

 

Group Travel

Group travel is arranged when 10 or more individuals are travelling together on the same itinerary. In travel, group travel is identified by different titles like group trips, group holidays, group packages or group tours.

 

Group Tour

A travel package for an assembly of travellers that has a common itinerary, travel date, and transportation. Group tours are usually prearranged, prepaid and include transportation, lodging, dining, and attraction admissions.

 

Group Tour Release Date

Indicates that a group tour departure date can be finalised and closed, not allowing more sales. All products part of the itinerary need to be confirmed upon this date, and the group size is known.

 

H

Highlights 

Highlights can be created to complement area descriptions. They're displayed on the template card in Discovery Overview or next to the area description in Discovery Details. They can indicate the main sightseeing spots. 

 

Hosted group tour

A group tour that features a representative (the host) of the tour operator, destination, or other tour providers, who interacts with the group only for a few hours a day to provide information and arrange for transportation. The host usually doesn't accompany the group as it travels.

 

I

IATA

International basic fares are regulated by IATA, which doesn't depend on the airline (Public Fare Source). Also called "Published Fares". 

 

IBE

Internet Booking Engine.

IBE is used in the travel industry to book flights, rent cars, book hotels, etc. It's a generic term for any sort of search & booking engine.

 

Instance

A TripBuilder instance is the whole setup delivered to a client that includes the Booking funnel (Discovery, Planner, Checkout) and Cockpit. An instance can have several distribution channels that are managed in Settings. 

 

International Flights 

An InternationalFlightComponent is either the first flight in the start connection (main INBOUND leg) or the last flight in the return connection (the main OUTBOUND leg) of an itinerary.

 

Inventory

In the inventory, you define and manage your templates and travel products. Here, white-label portals also control which templates are shown on their website.

 

J

 

K

KYC

Know Your Customer

KYC is the process of a business verifying the identity of its clients to mitigate potential risks. A KYC is used by Nezasa's payment partner Payyo. For more details, please see Payyo's knowledge base here.

 

L

Look2Book

The number of requests per reservation/booking made. This can occur in additional costs for the WL. Look2book must be discussed exclusively by the Nezasa customer with the Supplier (such as AERticket). Nezasa has no influence to control it. 

 

M

Meal Plan

The type of meal included per passenger in the group tour, for example, BB (Breakfast only), HF (Half Board), or FB (Full board).

 

Meet & Greet

A service provided by the tour leader/guide that includes the pick-up at the airport for the passengers in the group.

 

MO

Marketplace Operator

 

Module

Modules can be used as exchangeable pre-and/or post-program of a tour. When and how modules are exchangeable depends on the type of created template.  

 

Module Type 

The system offers three module types. Which type is chosen has an impact on its display, as well as on its exchangeability and usage in templates.

 

Motorcoach

Deluxe equipment is used by most tour operators in group tour programs. Amenities include reclining seats, bathrooms, air conditioning, good lighting and refreshment availability.

 

N

NBC

Non Bookable Content

NBC is, for example, the descriptions of hotels, cars, or other products. Notably, this doesn't include prices or availability. 

 

NDC

New Distribution Capabilities (Fare Source) 

 

NEGO

Negotiated fares are special discounted prices that have been established between a company and an airline or between a travel agency and an airline. (Private Fare Source) 

 

Net Rate

The price of the flights, accommodation etc., without the agent’s commission added.

 

O

Occupancy

The number of guests staying in a room. Sometimes directly referred to as "occupants".

 

On Request or Option

This means that the component isn't directly bookable. First, the supplier needs to be contacted to check availability and get a confirmation, which usually takes some days. If the component is available, it will immediately be a definite reservation.

 

Order

A transaction of what the customer books or cancels. A number of components with a set price, etc. 

 

OTA

Open Travel Alliance

A non-profit organization that specifies standards for electronic exchange of data in the travel industry. 
The standard doesn't define all details and leaves the tour operator some freedom.
See http://opentravel.org/ or http://schemas.liquid-technologies.com/OpenTravel/2008B/

 

Over-booking

When a booking is placed that exceeds the allotment or allocation of units contracted/available.

 

Over-occupancy

A scenario where a certain room type allows an additional person in the room that's different from the standard occupancy definition. That might lead to a discounted rate per additional PAX or the same rate as the standard occupancy rate.

 

P

Package Builder 

Area of our solution where all tours, that is, templates and modules, are created. 

 

Packages

An easy and popular way to travel is by buying packages. These often include accommodation, travel and some meals.

 

PCC

Pseudo-City Code

Identifier that distinguishes one travel agency location from another. This may be a 3–5 character code (alpha, numeric, or combination) based on the GDS. PCCs are inevitable when adding negotiated rates, as these rates can be “defined” or secured to an agency by using their PCC.

 

Planner

After instantiating a template or creating an itinerary from scratch, a tour is displayed in the Planner. Here, the user can modify the displayed trip suggestion by selecting the desired components, that is, hotels, activities, rental cars, flights, etc., before proceeding to checkout. 

 

PNR

Passenger Name Record

A 6-character alphanumeric code used to reference a passenger or group of passengers in a reservations system. Also called a record locator or confirmation number.

 

Pooled allocation

A feature whereby an allotment can be shared across tours or packages so that bookings can be made without the risk of creating an overbooking scenario.

 

Preformed group

A pre-existing collection of travellers, such as affinity groups and travel clubs, whose members share a common interest or organisational affiliation.

 

Products 

Products (accommodations, activities, etc.) are created and managed within the inventory of the Cockpit. They contain descriptions, prices, pictures, etc. 

 

Promotional group tour

A travel package composed of tour elements that match the specific needs and wants of niche customers who aren’t part of an organised or pre-formed group.

 

Q

 

R

Rack Rate

The rate accommodations quote to the public. Group rates, convention, trade show, meeting and incentive travel rates are negotiated by the hotel and program organisers.

 

Receptive operator

A local tour company that specialises in services for incoming visitors, often for tour operator groups.

 

Referrer

Source from where a user came from before landing in TripBuilder. This is relevant information to measure and improve marketing campaigns.

 

Release Date

The release date is the date or days which are given to an intermediary by a supplier to sell under an allotted contract. See Allotments for more information.

 

Rental Cars

Rental cars can be manually created within the TripBuilder inventory or sourced via a connected supplier. Check your product plan for further information. 

 

Room Rates

The various rates used by lodging properties to price rooms. These include:

• Day rate: usually one-half the regular rate for a room used by a guest during the day up to 5 p.m., sometimes called a use rate.
• Flat rate: a specific room rate for a group agreed upon by the hotel and group in advance.
• Group rate: same as a flat rate.
• Net group rate: a wholesale rate for group business to which an operator may add a markup if desired.
• Net wholesale rate: a rate usually lower than the group rate and applicable to groups or individuals when a hotel is specifically mentioned in a tour folder.
• Published rate: a full rate available to or advertised to the public. Also called the rack rate.

 

Rooming List

The list that hotels use to allocate the appropriate people to a particular room. This list also provides a road map for where the rooms should be located about one another (relatives, children, reduced mobility, etc.). Therefore, the list is critical to provide the experience offered.

 

Run-of-the-house rate

A flat rate for which a lodging property agrees to offer any of its available rooms to a group. The final assignment of the rooms is at the discretion of lodging management.

 

S

Settings

Define the settings of your inventory and white-label portal. The settings are only accessible by users with admin rights.

 

SIC

Seat in Coach Bus Tours
This is a shared group tour.

 

Single Supplement

An additional charge was added to a solo traveller when prices were originally quoted for dual occupancy.

 

Split itinerary

An itinerary in which part of the group does one thing, while the other part does something else.

 

Stop Activity

Stop activities can be manually created within the TripBuilder Inventory or sourced via a connected supplier. Check your product plan for further information. 

 

Supplier

The supplier is the source of a service. The supplier is the company responsible for providing the products and services (for example, a destination management company, a bed bank, etc.).

 

T

TA-Tools

Travel Agent Tools

They're displayed in the Planner to authorised users. 

 

Templates 

Templates (also called "itinerary templates") act as a blueprint of a trip and are displayed on Discovery Overview when published. A user can pick such a template, select options such as number of travelers and start date, and then create an itinerary from it (which in turn is then editable in Planner).

 

TO-Tools

Tour Operator Tools

They're displayed in the Planner to authorised users. 

 

TOMA

Tour Market

CRS, operated by Amadeus, allows German travel agencies to search, book, change or cancel tourist services (for example, roundtrips, flights, or rental cars).

 

TOP

Tour Operator Fares (Private Fare Source) 

 

TOUR

Module type that's used to create a package tour with transit activities.

 

Tour

A tour is a journey which includes the visiting of several places in sequence, especially with an organised group often led by a guide.

 

Tour Departure

The date of the start by any individual or group of a tour program or, by extension, the entire operation of that single tour.

 

Tour Director

Also called tour manager, tour conductor, and tour escort. The person who is responsible for a group on tour and for most aspects of a tour’s execution.

 

Tour Guide

A person who takes people on trips through an area and explains its interesting details.

 

Tour Leader

A person who's responsible for controlling and leading the group. Usually travels with the group from origin to destination.

 

Tour Operator

Develops, markets and operates group travel programs that provide a complete travel experience for one price and include transportation (airline, rail, motorcoach, and/or ship), accommodations, sightseeing, selected meals and an escort. Tour operators market directly to the consumer through travel agents and are beginning to be listed on computerised reservation systems.

 

Tour rate

See Group Rate.

 

Transfer 

Transfers are used as a connection between stops in templates. Transfer products can be created within the TripBuilder Inventory or sourced via an integrated transport supplier. 

 

Transit Activity 

Transit activities can be manually created within the TripBuilder Inventory and are used as package tours, that is, group tours, cruises, fixed private tours, etc. Package tours aren't dynamic and cannot be adjusted in the Planner, besides possible up-selling options via amenities (offline booking by TO or Agent required). 

 

TripBuilder 

TripBuilder is the most advanced automated platform for real-time planning and booking of personalised travel experiences. The software allows users to design and modify complex travel itineraries according to personal requirements in a few simple steps. With TripBuilder, travel businesses can effectively optimise revenue and elevate the travel experience. Read more

 

TripFinder

BistroPortal by Traveltainment (an Amadeus company) allows travel agents from DE/AT/CH to search and compare billions of travel offers in its current modules, package tours, flights, cruises, and hotels as well as holiday homes. Round trips, however, had been an underserved segment to date, as they were "hidden" between package and hotel offers. In close collaboration with Traveltainment, Nezasa tackled this gap and developed Tripfinder, an additional Bistro module for the search of round trips. TripFinder allows travel agents to search for round trips with or without flights based on general attributes like destination, the number of pax, travel dates, etc. and also offers round trip specific search/filter criteria such as travel type (for example, private trip, self-drive, cultural trip, etc.), guaranteed departure, German-speaking tour guide or selected touristic highlights.

 

TTL

Ticket Time Limit

This is the time limit businesses (often airlines) give for a ticket to be purchased to avoid cancellations or expiration of the fare.

 

U

Under-occupancy

A scenario where it's allowed an occupancy below the standard occupancy of a room. For example, a double room allows one PAX when the standard occupancy is two PAX.

 

Upsell Product 

An upsell product can be created within the TripBuilder Inventory. They're displayed after the planning process as the first step of the checkout workflow. As the name states, these are individual products, for example, road books, insurance, or additional services. 

 

V

VAT

Value Added Tax

From production to consumption, VAT may be added to products or services each time they're bought or resold for a profit. Also known as goods and services tax, VAT may apply when a wholesaler resells tours or activities.

 

W

Waitlist

Travellers may wish to buy waitlisted tickets to save costs. This means they're placed on a list and will wait to take the place of someone who cancels or doesn’t show up.

 

X

 

Y

Yield management

Calculating and analysing the profits earned per customer.

 

Z