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OpenTravel Releases Specification Version 2011A

June 27, 2011

OpenTravel Alliance (OpenTravel), the travel industry’s leading distribution specification and standards development organization, announces the publication of the 2011A message and business functionality schema. 

Click here to download the specification.

Included in this version are the following new and enhanced schema:

Ground Transportation Messages


The new OpenTravel ground transportation schema is designed to support XML distribution for the personal ground transportation sector (that includes limousine, black car and personal shuttle service) and covers the scope of web services required to implement a modern personal ground transportation reservation system. The 2011A OpenTravel Publication includes three new ground transportation message sets:
  • OTA_GroundAvailRQ/RS: Check ground transfer service availability
  • OTA_GroundBookRQ/RS: Create a ground transportation service reservation (booking)
  • OTA_GroundResRetrieveRS/RS: Retrieve a ground transportation service reservation

Rail Messages

  • One deprecated rail message (OTA_RailRetrieveRS)
  • Three enhanced 2010B message sets
    • OTA_RailAvailRQ/RS
    • OTA_RailBookRQ/RS
    • OTA_RailScheduleRQ/RS
  • Five new rail messages
    • OTA_RailReadRQ
    • OTA_RailResRetrieveSummaryRS
    • OTA_RailResRetrieveDetailRS
    • OTA_RailPriceRQ/RS
    • OTA_RailFareQuoteRQ/RS


Hotel Messages


Billing Instruction Details
OpenTravel is pleased to announce support for billing instruction details in OpenTravel hotel schema. This new functionality allow hotels to create billing codes that apply to a set of instructions for a transaction set that are routed to a designated folio.  Enhanced hotel messages are:
  • OTA_HotelReservation
  • OTA_HotelResNotifRQ
  • OTA_HotelResModifyRQ
  • OTA_HotelResRQ
  • OTA_HotelResRS
Cache Change Notification
The OpenTravel Hotel Cache Change Notification message set allows a hotel supplier to push their changed hotel rates and availability information to a trading partner that caches their hotel rates and availability information and have the trading partner send an acknowledgment message that they received the information.
  • OTA_HotelCacheChangeNotifRQ/RS.xsd
Rebate Program Information
OpenTravel is pleased to announce support for suppliers participating in rebate programs. The 2011A implementation focuses on hotel suppliers and includes enhancements to OpenTravel hotel search, hotel availability and hotel get availability messages that allow hotel suppliers to let their customers search for hotels by participation in rebate programs, and display their rebate program participation information in availability messages. This first implementation is modeled after a value added tax  rebate program, but the implementation is flexible enough to support other rebate programs that suppliers may offer or participate in. The following OpenTravel common and hotel messages have been enhanced to include the exchange of rebate program information:
  • OTA_CommonTypes
  • OTA_HotelSearchRQ/RS
  • OTA_HotelAvailGetRQ
  • OTA_HotelAvailRQ/RS

Hostel Functionality in Hotel Messages

 
OpenTravel is pleased to announce functionality to support the distribution of hostel information in the OpenTravel hotel messages. New attributes and elements are provided for room (occupancy) gender assignment, shared rooms, availability results sort order and bedding configurations that are unique to hostels.  Enhanced hotel messages are:
  • OTA_HotelCommonTypes
  • OTA_HotelAvailRQ/RS
  • OTA_HotelAvailNotifRQ
  • OTA_HotelResRQ/RS