The following glossary defines the more commonly used terms related to online booking.
Glossary of Terms – as they relate to the Open Booking Exchange.
Tourism provider – a supplier of tourism product i.e. accommodation, attraction, tour or event.
Integrated Intermediary – an electronic system which holds content, rates and availability for the tourism provider and which can be integrated / joined to the exchange to provide this information in a live, real time environment. Examples of integrated intermediaries are wholesaler systems such as AOT and Discover West.
Polling Partner – same definition as Integrated Intermediary.
Integrated Reservation System – a tourism provider’s Inventory Management System, Property Management System or Central Reservation System which is integrated to the Open Booking Exchange and provides live, real time inventory from these systems to the exchange.
Distributor – a distribution channel such as a website or Visitor Centre that displays online bookable tourism product eg www.westernaustralia.com, needitnow.com or relevant VC.
Commission - A percentage of a sale price paid to a distributor for making a sale.
Consumer - A person who purchases a product or products.
Distribution - The process or means through which products are delivered to the consumer.
E-commerce enabled - When businesses can directly or indirectly (through a third party) undertake a commercial dealing via the Internet.
Open Booking Exchange (OBX) - The inventory management technology developed by V3 for the electronic distribution of Western Australian tourism product, including but not limited to westernaustralia.com.