(Perhaps a little late for publication, still we think the article is worth sharing with you) Washington, D.C. April 20th - Key travel suppliers from the air, car, hotel industry with the support of The Air Transport Association (ATA) and The Hotel Electronic Distribution Network Association (HEDNA), announce the formation of the Open Travel Alliance (the Alliance). The Alliance is a travel industry group, assembled to create and promote new electronic commerce standards that improve the way information is exchanged between suppliers, distributors and consumers. This new initiative, led by air, car and hotel suppliers, has set as its initial goal the delivery of a directory of common industry data labels to be exchanged among the travel supplier, distributor, and customer reservations computer systems.

The Alliance's goal is to include participation from not only air, car, hotel and other travel suppliers, but also global distribution systems and travel agencies, as well as many other developers of travel-oriented products and services. Open communication standards between the industries, developed by the Alliance, will facilitate a cost-effective exchange of information and will ultimately reduce duplication of efforts and create new innovative distribution opportunities. One of the Alliance's first steps in moving toward this goal is the creation of an "open" set of standard XML definitions to facilitate communication between users.

This "thesaurus" of terms will allow users to choose how they communicate between systems.

Companies currently participating in the Open Travel Alliance are: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Midwest Express, Northwest Airlines, Trans World Airlines, United Airlines, Vanguard Airlines, Bass Hotels and Resorts, Hilton Hotels, Hyatt Corporation, Marriott International, Sterling Hotels, Swissotel, Alamo Rent A Car, Avis Rent A Car, Budget Rent -A-Car, Dollar Rent A Car Systems, Inc, Hertz Corporation, National Car Rental, and Thrifty Car Rental.

The founding members of the Open Travel Alliance plan to present their concepts at its first OpenTravel Advisory Forum meeting on May 25th at the Atlanta Airport Hilton, Atlanta, GA. All companies engaged in serving the travel industry and wish to learn more and contribute are encouraged to attend. For further information refer to the OpenTravel Alliance website at .

The Air Transport Association is the trade association for leading airlines and it has 23 U.S. and 5 international members. ATA carriers transport over 95 percent of all the passenger and cargo traffic in the United States.

The Hotel Electronic Distribution Network Association (HEDNA) is an international, not-for-profit organization formed by hoteliers in 1991 to promote and accelerate the use of Global Distribution Systems (GDS) as well as other electronic hotel reservation methods.

Please visit for more information. Or contact OTA's executive office at: (phone) 412-781-4525; (fax) 412-781-2871.

Diana Cronan
202-626-4172
HEDNA