[1] OpenTravel was founded in 1999 by a consortium of travel companies - including air, hotel, car rental, and supporting software companies - with a primary focus on the creation of electronic message structures to facilitate communication between the disparate systems in the global travel industry.
[2] The driving force behind the adoption of an XML standard throughout the travel industry was the hopes of eliminating one of the major impediments blocking a full conversion to electronic tickets.
The adoption of an industry-standard setup based on XML allowed electronic tickets to be automatically transferred to another airline's system.
[4] In March 2016, the OpenTravel Alliance announced the release of OTA 2.0 object model solution, the next generation of open source messaging for consumer direct bookings.
OpenTravel creates, expands and drives adoption of open specifications, including but not limited to the use of XML, for the electronic exchange of business information among all sectors of the travel industry.