CMA announces that 25 brands including TripAdvisor, Airbnb and Google have agreed to change how they display information
_w=800_h=533_pjpg.jpg?v=20230522122229)
Hotel booking sites conform to UK regulator’s demands to end pressure selling
UK regulator the Competition and Markets Authority has secured agreements from leading hotel booking websites to stop pressure selling and giving false information.
The CMA announced today that 25 brands including TripAdvisor, Airbnb and Google as well as major hotel chains, have agreed to change how they display information.
More: Call for CMA to step up action against OTAs
Hotel booking websites face CMA enforcement action
The announcement comes after the CMA took enforcement action against Expedia, Booking.com, Agoda, hotels.com, ebookers and trivago over pressure selling, misleading discount claims and the effect that commission has on how hotels are ordered on sites.
The CMA said it was “concerned that some of these practices could mislead people, stop them finding the best deal and potentially break consumer protection law”. It added all six firms formally committed to clean up their sites and have now made the agreed changes.
Most of the leading accommodation sites have now signed up to the CMA’s sector wide principles for complying with consumer protection law. These principles include not giving a false impression of a room’s popularity and always displaying the full cost of a room upfront.
The CMA said most have already made any necessary changes. Accor, IHG, Hilton, Marriott, Radisson Hotel Group, and Wyndham Hotels and Resorts requested more time as they will need to introduce specific technical updates so that UK customers are always shown the full cost of a room upfront when searching for hotels abroad.
The CMA added it will now be closely monitoring to ensure that these firms make the required changes in a timely manner.
Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the CMA, said: “People booking hotels online can now do so with more confidence thanks to the CMA’s action.
“Major websites and big hotel chains have agreed to clean up their act if they’ve been using misleading sales tactics, and have signed up to sector-wide consumer law principles on how to display important information to customers.
“The CMA will now be watching to make sure that these major brands, used by millions of people in the UK every year, stay true to their word. We will take action if we find evidence that firms are breaking consumer law.”
If the CMA finds that any sites fail to make the appropriate changes or becomes concerned that people are being misled, it said it will not hesitate to take further action.
As well as continuing to expect all booking sites and hotel chains to abide by its sector-wide principles, the CMA is pushing for compliance with consumer protection law in the travel and tourism sector globally.
As part of this, it is co-leading an international project with other consumer enforcement agencies, which aims to tackle these issues on a global basis.
More: Call for CMA to step up action against OTAs
Hotel booking websites face CMA enforcement action
