Manfred Osthues, managing director of protel hotelsoftware GmbH: “Membership of the Open Travel™ Alliance enables us to activity participate in the development of standards and in the exchange of information between all segments of the travel industry. This partnership provides us with a continuous stream of the very latest information on current developments and links us to internationally operating market leaders in business technology who are also in the network. Everyone benefits from this, in particular our customers.”
The Open Travel™ Alliance (OTA ) is a non-profit-making organisation comprising a broad range of companies, from airline operators, hotels, car rental agencies, leisure providers and travel agencies, to GDS [Global Distribution System] and technology providers and other interested partners. The alliance’s mission is to create, expand and accept open, universal data specifications for the electronic exchange of business information across the travel industry. Various workgroups within the OTA define messages and data elements expressed in XML terms and lay down standards for communicating between all segments of the travel and tourism industry. The common “e-business language” is aimed at augmenting system developments in order to better fulfil the requirements and expectations of travellers and the travel industry.
The OTA thus provides an important forum for all segments of the industry to work together towards a common goal: the creation of uniform and integrated specifications in order to better market e-commerce and look after travellers more effectively.
In just five years, the OTA has grown into an e-commerce leader in the travel industry. Many top-class travel companies have adopted OTA specifications, for example: Best Western International, Cendant Car Rental Group, Hertz Corporation, Hilton Corporation, Marriott International, Sabre Holdings and Worldspan.
The use of OTA XML specifications enables travel organisers and agents, GDS providers and software developers to cut costs, improve customer service, speed up release of new products and services and thus gain the decisive edge on the competition.
protel hotel software GmbH with its headquarters in Dortmund / Germany supports more than 2.200 installations in 30 countries and is one of the leading suppliers of hotel software, offering a complete portfolio of business applications from Front Office to Banquet Administration, Sales & Marketing and Internet and GDS reservations for individual hotels and hotel chains.
protel's customers include Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts (CH), the Paramount Group of Hotels (UK), the largest chain in Greece ´Grecotel`, the largest chain in Austria ´Austria Trend Hotels & Resorts`, other ´Leading Hotels of the world` like Badrutt`s Palace Hotel or the Suvretta House ( both in St Moritz, Switzerland), the ROBINSON Club Cala Serena (Spain) as well as important companies in the industry sector like Deutsche Post Worldnet AG, Bayer AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Vodafone and many more.
