Travel firms urged to comply with new CMA rules amid call for more time

Industry leaders are urging businesses to act quickly to comply with Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) guidance to include all mandatory fees and taxes customers must pay in destinations in total prices.

 

Agency consortia have acted to help members comply and Abta has updated its guidance and Code of Conduct while urging the CMA to allow the industry time to adapt. Yet Alan Bowen, advisor to the Association of Atol Companies, suggested: “There is a foolish belief that if you close your eyes this will go away. It won’t.” 

 

The CMA issued its guidance on the new rules on November 18. But it has already sent letters to 100 businesses warning of enforcement action. The regulator declined to confirm the number of companies written to in any sector but confirmed travel firms were among them.

 

More: CMA action confirms it has travel industry in its sights

 

Comment: What do the CMA’s pricing guidelines mean in practice

 

Competition watchdog warns 19 travel firms over online pricing

 

Abta pointed out members already have to inform consumers of any charges in destination and senior solicitor Paula Macfarlane said: “It’s not as though travel is analogous to other sectors where the CMA might consider these charges are hidden. The CMA should recognise that implementing changes to systems will take time.

 

“Our message to members is that they need to comply as soon as possible to include resort fees and tourist taxes. We’ve focused on getting that across.” 

However, Julia Lo Bue-Said, Advantage Travel Partnership chief executive, noted: “What the guidance means is one thing, how you handle it operationally is another. Every business is having to rethink its procedures.”

 

Blue Bay Travel chief executive Alistair Rowland described the rules as “grey at best” and said: “There is no clarity. The CMA has ignored all advice [from the sector].”

 

Adding tourism tax rates to prices and explaining that exchange rates could change “makes it horribly complex”, he said, adding: “We’re trying to do the best automation we can. [But] there are so many factors. How many times do you check the [foreign exchange] spot rate, for example – weekly, daily, twice a day? The ability to generate errors is huge.”

 

Rowland suggested developing best practice “could take the best part of a year”.

 

’Daunting’

The Travel Network Group chief executive Gary Lewis noted the requirements “can feel daunting” and said: “Our focus is on reassuring members they’re not expected to navigate this alone.

 

“We’ve set out the core principles and what these mean, with practical support [to come] through a series of Zoom webinars in the final week of January. [These] will focus on real booking scenarios, explained in plain English, and show how our booking platform supports compliant pricing.”

 

Jet2holidays notified agents last week that it is breaking down prices into what is ‘Payable to Jet2holidays’ and what is ‘Payable on arrival’ (Travel Weekly, January 8), and Bowen said: “We like the Jet2 idea.”

 

However, he warned of a danger of “everyone ending up doing something different” and said: “The CMA appears to be gunning for us.”

 

Tui said it is “committed to full compliance”. A spokesperson said: “We’re implementing technology solutions in stages as quickly as possible. We’ve already made local taxes more prominent during booking and our accommodation-only products now include these taxes in total prices. Work is underway on the next phase covering packaged products.”