Difficulty: Easy
Correct Answer: database management system (DBMS)
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
Online reservation platforms store, query, and update large volumes of structured data in real time: room inventory, rates, bookings, and customer profiles. The enabling core is a database engine and its data model, accessed by the application tier.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
Such systems showcase a DBMS in action. While the application is not itself the DBMS, the example most directly illustrates the use of a DBMS (schemas, queries, transactions, concurrency control) to power a mission-critical, data-driven application. “Manual information system” is the opposite of automated. “Marketing information system” and “managerial information system” are broader organizational constructs not specific to reservation transaction processing.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Verification / Alternative check:
Architecture diagrams for reservation systems show application servers backed by a relational (or NoSQL) DBMS for bookings, pricing, and availability.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Marketing/managerial information systems are higher-level constructs; the question spotlights database capability within an operational application.
Common Pitfalls:
Conflating the application with the DBMS layer; forgetting that transactional integrity is crucial (double-booking must be prevented).
Final Answer:
 database management system (DBMS)
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