Advantage issues ‘practical’ guidance on CMA pricing rules

Advantage Travel Partnership has issued practical guidance to support members navigating guidance from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on transparent pricing.

The consortium’s guidance was developed in response to conversations across the travel industry about how the rules should be interpreted in real-life travel marketing, particularly across social media, email, websites, shop windows, printed assets and enquiry-led sales activity.

The CMA introduced the requirement to identify tour operators in all ‘invitations to purchase’ last year under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act.

David Forder, marketing director at Advantage Travel Partnership, said: “Members have been asking very practical questions about how the CMA’s price transparency guidance applies to real-world travel marketing, especially where activity is designed to start an enquiry rather than complete a booking.

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“There is still a lot of grey area for the industry to work through, so our aim has been to take a complex subject and turn it into something members can actually use.

“Developed with support from our legal counsel, this guidance provides members with practical tests, worked examples, and checklists to help them assess their marketing activity, understand where the risks may lie, and continue to communicate travel offers clearly and responsibly to customers.

“This is exactly where a membership organisation can add value, by helping independent travel businesses interpret complex regulatory change and apply it in a way that works in day-to-day trading.”

Under the CMA’s guidance, where a trader provides consumers with information about a product and its price, this will normally constitute an invitation to purchase.

In those circumstances, businesses need to ensure that pricing information is clear, timely and not misleading, and that any mandatory fees, taxes, charges or other unavoidable payments are reflected appropriately.

Advantage’s new toolkit breaks down the key principles into practical tests, worked examples and checklists that can be used across everyday marketing activity.

It helps agents members assess whether a communication is designed to prompt an enquiry, or whether it includes enough product and pricing information to be treated as an invitation to purchase.

There are practical examples across common marketing formats, including social media posts, CRM quotes, window cards, digital magazines, websites and email promotions.