Hotel Industry Glossary: Key Terms and Definitions
Hotel Industry Abbreviations
ADR: Average Daily Rate.
AGOP: Adjusted Gross Operating Profit.
AGR: Agreed (contracted guestrooms/covers).
ALOS: Average Length of Stay.
BEO: Banquet Event Order.
BOH: Back of House.
CMP: Complete Meeting Package.
DOSM: Director of Sales and Marketing.
F&B: Food & Beverage.
FIT: Free and Independent Traveler.
FOH: Front of House.
FOM: Front Office Manager.
GDS: Global Distribution System.
GM: General Manager.
GOP: Gross Operating Profit.
LI: Labor Intensive.
LRA: Last Room Availability.
LTV: Loan-to-Value Ratio.
MICE: Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions.
MOD: Manager on Duty.
NRB: Negotiated Rate Business.
OJT: On-the-Job Training.
OTA: Online Travel Agency.
PMS: Property Management System.
RevPAR: Revenue per Available Room.
ROE: Return on Equity.
ROI: Return on Investment.
SOCIMI: Spanish REIT equivalent.
SOP: Standard Operating Procedure.
STR: Smith Travel Research.
USALI: Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry.
YTD: Year to Date.
Hotel Industry Terms
À la carte: Dishes ordered and priced separately.
Back of the House: Areas with little or no guest contact.
Brand: A hotel’s recognizable name and identity.
Business mix: The combination of a hotel’s customer segments.
Career ladder: Steps toward jobs with greater responsibility.
Coaching: Helping someone improve their performance.
Cost center: A department supporting operations without directly generating revenue.
Customer: Someone who buys or uses products or services.
Data mining: Finding useful patterns in data.
Downsizing: Reducing staff or working hours.
Franchisee: The operator paying to use a brand.
Franchisor: The company granting permission to use its brand.
Front of House: Areas and roles with direct guest contact.
Full-Service Hotel: A hotel offering extensive facilities and services.
Guest: Someone staying at or receiving hotel services.
Hotel: An establishment providing paid accommodation.
Hoteliers: People owning, managing, or working in hotels.
Hostel: Budget accommodation, often with shared rooms and facilities.
Human relations: How people interact and work together.
Induction: A new employee’s initial workplace introduction.
Labor Intensive: Depending heavily on human work.
Line department: A department directly delivering core hotel services.
Line-level Staff: Employees performing daily operational tasks.
Limited-Service Hotel: A hotel offering fewer services and facilities.
Market share: A company’s percentage of total market business.
Mentor: An experienced person guiding someone’s professional development.
Off-Boarding: Managing an employee’s departure.
On-Boarding: Helping a new employee join and settle in.
Occupancy Rate: The percentage of available rooms occupied.
Organizational Culture: Shared workplace values, beliefs, and practices.
Overbuilt: Having more hotel rooms than demand supports.
Progressive Discipline: Increasingly serious consequences for workplace violations.
Reengineering: Redesigning processes to improve performance.
Resident Manager: An on-site manager overseeing daily operations.
Revenue: Income from selling rooms, products, or services.
Revenue center: A department that generates income.
Room service: Food and drinks delivered to guest rooms.
Select-Service Hotel: A hotel between limited-service and full-service.
Span of Control: The number of employees a manager effectively supervises.
Staff Department: A department providing specialist support to operations.
Suite: Spacious accommodation, often with separate living and sleeping areas.
Turnover: The rate at which employees leave and are replaced.
Unity of command: Each employee reports to one direct supervisor.
Vertical communication: Communication between different organizational levels.