HOTEL INDUSTRY ACRONYMS & TERMINOLOGY GUIDE
INDUSTRY GLOSSARY
The hotel industry loves acronyms. Some are useful. Some are legacy leftovers.
Some only exist to make decks sound smarter than they are.
This is a curated glossary of hotel, revenue, distribution, and tech terms you’re
most likely to hear in meetings, vendor pitches, and industry conversations.
It’s not exhaustive. It’s practical. Bookmark it.
Core Performance & Revenue Metrics
| ADR | Average Daily Rate. Average room revenue earned per occupied room. |
| OCC | Occupancy. Percentage of available rooms sold. |
| RevPAR | Revenue per Available Room. |
| GOP | Gross Operating Profit. |
| GOPPAR | Gross Operating Profit per Available Room. |
| TRevPAR | Total Revenue per Available Room, including rooms and non-room revenue. |
| RevPOR | Revenue per Occupied Room. |
| CPOR | Cost per Occupied Room. |
| LOS / ALOS | Length of Stay / Average Length of Stay. |
| BAR | Best Available Rate. Lowest public rate for a given date. |
| Pace | Booking activity compared to a prior period. |
| Pickup | New bookings added over a defined time window. |
| MPI / ARI / RGI | Performance indexes versus competitive set. |
Distribution, Sales & Hotel Tech
| PMS | Property Management System. Runs daily hotel operations. |
| CRS | Central Reservation System. Manages rates, inventory, and distribution. |
| CRM | Customer Relationship Management system. |
| RMS | Revenue Management System. |
| GDS | Global Distribution System (Amadeus, Sabre, Travelport). |
| OTA | Online Travel Agency. |
| Channel Manager | Synchronizes rates and availability across channels. |
| Booking Engine | Direct booking tool on a hotel website. |
| Metasearch | Rate comparison platforms like Google Hotels and Trivago. |
| API | Application Programming Interface. |
| LLM | Large Language Model powering tools like ChatGPT and Claude. |
| MCP | Model Context Protocol. Allows AI to access live system data. |
| Net Rate | Rate provided to intermediaries before commission. |
| Gross Rate | Rate shown to the guest including commission. |
| Rate Parity | Same rate across all distribution channels. |
| Stop Sell | Restriction preventing sales via specific channels. |
| LRA | Last Room Availability requirement. |
Group, Sales & Events
| BEO | Banquet Event Order. |
| CSM | Conference Services Manager. |
| DOSM | Director of Sales and Marketing. |
| MICE | Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions. |
| SMERF | Social, Military, Educational, Religious, Fraternal groups. |
| RFP | Request for Proposal. |
| NRB | Negotiated Rate Business. |
| FIT | Free Independent Traveler. |
| PAX | Number of people associated with a booking or event. |
| OTB | On the Books. Confirmed future business. |
Hotel Operations & Front Office
| FOH / BOH | Front of House / Back of House. |
| MOD | Manager on Duty. |
| OOO / OOS | Out of Order / Out of Service. |
| DND | Do Not Disturb. |
| No-Show | Guest fails to arrive. |
| Walk-In | Guest without a reservation. |
| Folio | Guest bill. |
| Night Audit | End-of-day reconciliation. |
| House Count | Number of guests currently in-house. |
| Stayover | Guest remaining for another night. |
Ownership, Finance & Corporate
| P&L | Profit and Loss statement. |
| EBITDA | Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization. |
| EBITDAR | EBITDA plus rent. |
| ROI | Return on Investment. |
| CapEx | Capital Expenditures. |
| OpEx | Operating Expenses. |
| FF&E | Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment. |
| REIT | Real Estate Investment Trust. |
| Asset Light | Ownership model focused on management or franchise. |
Hawaiʻi-Specific Hotel & Tourism Terms
| HTA | Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority. |
| HVCB | Hawaiʻi Visitors and Convention Bureau. |
| DBEDT | Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. |
| DLNR | Department of Land and Natural Resources. |
| TAT | Transient Accommodations Tax. |
| GET | General Excise Tax. |
| OTAT | Oʻahu Transient Accommodations Tax. |
| Airlift | Airline seat capacity to Hawaiʻi. |
| Neighbor Islands | All islands other than Oʻahu. |
| Mauka / Makai | Toward the mountains / toward the ocean. |
| Ahupuaʻa | Traditional land division. |
| Kuleana | Responsibility or obligation. |
| ʻĀina | Land, with cultural meaning beyond property. |
