OTA

An OTA (Online Travel Agency) is a platform that aggregates and distributes travel products - hotel rooms, airline tickets, car rentals, vacation packages - from multiple suppliers through a single website or app.

Major OTAs include Priceline, Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, and Kayak. Each negotiates inventory access agreements with hotels, airlines, and car rental companies and presents that inventory to consumers. OTAs make revenue through commissions or markups.

Travel data APIs that source data from OTA inventory give developers access to the same pricing and availability information that OTA websites display to consumers - the foundation of travel price comparison tools, booking engines, and AI travel assistants.