Glossary
Plain definitions of the terms used in group hotel booking. For longer guides, see Resources.
A
- Attrition
- Attrition is the gap between the rooms or revenue a group committed to in its hotel contract and what it actually used.
C
- Cutoff date
- A cutoff date is the deadline in a hotel group contract for booking attendees into the room block, after which unreserved rooms return to the hotel's general inventory.
G
- Ghost commission
- A ghost commission is a hotel commission on a group booking that is built into the room rate and paid to a party the agency or its client never knowingly agreed to pay, such as a sourcing platform or a sub-agent.
- Group RFP
- A group RFP is a request for proposal that an agency sends to one or more hotels setting out a group's dates, room needs, meeting space and terms, so that each hotel can reply with an offer the agency can compare.
H
- Hotel RFP
- A hotel RFP (request for proposal) is the document an agency sends to a shortlist of hotels setting out a group's dates, room needs and terms, so each hotel can reply with a priced proposal.
- Hotel RFP software
- Hotel RFP software is a tool that lets an agency send one structured request for proposal to several hotels, collect their bids in a consistent format and compare them before choosing a venue.
L
- Liquidated damages
- Liquidated damages are an amount, or a formula for one, written into a hotel group contract that the group agrees in advance to pay the hotel if it cancels or fails to use the rooms it committed to.
N
- Net rate
- A net rate is a hotel room rate quoted with no commission included, so the agency adds its own margin or service fee before billing the client.
R
- Room block
- A room block is a set number of hotel rooms per night that a hotel holds for a group under one contract, at an agreed rate and on agreed terms.
- Room block
- A room block is a set of hotel rooms that a hotel agrees, in a group contract, to hold for a group on set dates at a set rate until a cutoff date.
- Room block management software
- Room block management software is a tool that tracks a hotel room block against its group contract, recording pickup per night, rooming list changes and deadlines such as the cutoff date.
- Rooming list
- A rooming list is the document an agency sends a hotel naming each guest in a group block, with their room type, sharing arrangement and arrival and departure dates.
- Rooming list
- A rooming list is the document an agency sends a hotel naming every guest in a group booking, with their room type, sharing arrangements and arrival and departure dates.