The Hospitality Newsletter

Today Saturday, August 8, 2026

Hospitality Glossary

184 terms hotel owners, general managers, revenue managers and investors actually use — defined plainly, with the formula and a worked example where one exists.

Performance & revenue (28)

Distribution (16)

Agency model Attribute-based selling Billback Channel manager Consortia rate CRS Direct booking FIT GDS LNR Merchant model Metasearch Net rate OTA OTA commission Wholesaler

Technology (16)

Agentic booking Business intelligence CRM Guest messaging Interface fee Middleware Mobile key Open API PCI DSS PMS POS Reputation management RMS Self check-in kiosk Tech stack Upselling platform

Operations (16)

Brand standard Departure clean Front of house Heart of house Labour cost percentage Manager on duty Minutes per room Mystery shop Night audit Out of order Out of service Preventive maintenance Productivity standard Room attendant Stayover Turndown service

Ownership & finance (19)

Adaptive reuse Asset management C-PACE Cap rate Conversion Debt service coverage ratio EBITDA FF&E reserve Franchise agreement Franchise fee Ground lease Hotel pipeline Key money Management agreement Mezzanine debt PIP REIT Sale-leaseback Sponsor equity

Brands & segments (20)

Food & beverage (7)

Average check Banqueting Beverage cost percentage Covers Food cost percentage Outlet RevPASH

Marketing & guests (10)

Abandonment rate Ancillary revenue Guest acquisition cost Guest satisfaction score Look-to-book ratio Loyalty programme NPS Personalisation Review score Segmentation

Workforce (8)

Agency labour Cross-training H-2B visa Living wage Scheduling compliance Service charge Tip credit Turnover rate

Sustainability (11)

BREEAM Carbon intensity Energy use intensity ESG Green Key GSTC LEED Scope 1 emissions Scope 2 emissions Scope 3 emissions Single-use plastics

Regulation & risk (9)

ADA compliance Attrition clause Cancellation policy Force majeure GDPR Junk fee rules Resort fee Tourist tax Trafficking prevention training

Short-term rental (24)