MONTH IN REVIEW
MONTH IN REVIEW
www.hotelowner.co.uk
REGULATION
Hotel booking
sites to stop
‘misleading’
tactics following
CMA probe
Hotel booking websites have agreed to
make “major changes” to the methods
used to sell rooms following an
investigation by the Competitions and
Markets Authority (CMA).
Expedia, Booking.com, Agoda,
Hotels.com, Ebookers and Trivago have
been the subject of an investigation
since December 2017 due to serious
concerns around pressure selling,
misleading discount claims, the effect
that commission has on how hotels are
ordered on sites and hidden charges
Then in June, the CMA launched an
enforcement action against the sites
as it was concerned that practices
such as giving a false impression of
a room’s popularity or not displaying
the full cost of a room upfront could
mislead people, stop them finding
the best deal and potentially break
consumer protection law.
All companies under investigation by
the CMA have co-operated with its work
and voluntarily agreed to the following:
n Search results: making it clearer
how hotels are ranked after a
customer has entered their search
requirements, for example telling
people when search results have
been affected by the amount of
commission a hotel pays the site.
n Pressure selling: not giving a false
impression of the availability or
popularity of a hotel or rushing
customers into making a booking
decision based on incomplete
information. The CMA also saw
examples of some sites strategically
placing sold out hotels within search
results to put pressure on people to
book more quickly. Sites have now
committed not to do this.
n Discount claims: being clearer
6
www.hotelowner.co.uk
1
about discounts and only promoting
deals that are actually available at
that time. Examples of misleading
discount claims may include
comparisons with a higher price that
was not relevant to the customer’s
search criteria.
n Hidden charges: displaying all
compulsory charges such as taxes,
booking or resort fees in the headline
price. Sites can still break that price
down, but the total amount the
customer has to pay should always
be shown upfront.
ETHICS
Marriott trains
500,000 hotel
staff to recognise
signs of human
trafficking
Marriott International has trained
500,000 hotel workers to spot the signs
of human trafficking in its hotels and
how to respond if they do.
Marriott launched its mandatory
human trafficking awareness training
programme for on-property staff
in both managed and franchised
properties in January 2017,
underscoring ongoing efforts under
the company’s sustainability and
social impact platform, ‘Serve 360:
Doing Good in Every Direction’.
The hotel brand said it is
“committed to raising awareness”
among hotel staff to know the
indicators for forced commercial
sexual exploitation and forced labour,
and is “proud to join forces” with
human rights partners to support the
‘End It Movement’ to combat human
trafficking globally.
Arne Sorenson, president and
CEO, said: “Human trafficking is a
horrific form of modern slavery that
entraps millions of people around
the world.”
2
3
4
5
6
7
HOTELS
Foxtons founder
reveals plans for
Shoreditch hotel
Jon Hunt, founder of Estate agents
Foxtons, has announced plans to build
a 145-bedroom hotel at 49-51 Paul
Street in Shoreditch, east London.
According to the Evening Standard,
Hunt secured a resolution to grant
planning permission from Hackney
council, and said “Shoreditch is a great
place to invest in”.
Architectural firm Jestico + Whiles
will design the building, which will
include a cafe or restaurant.
Hunt told the Evening Standard:
“Shoreditch has recently become
a destination of choice for tech
companies together with a wide range
of start ups and this, coupled with
demand from younger tourists, makes
this a good place to construct and open
a hotel.”
James Dilley, director at Jestico +
Whiles, added: “The proposals for
the new hotel on Paul Street respond
directly to the area’s architectural
and cultural context in the heart of
Shoreditch.
“We’re delighted this has been
recognised by the London Borough of
Hackney and look forward to seeing
this increasingly busy thoroughfare
through Shoreditch reactivated.”
The CMA has taken
enforcement action to
bring to an end misleading sales
tactics, hidden charges and
other practices in the online
hotel booking market
CMA chairman, Andrew Tyrie
March 2019