Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) https://dev.traveldailymedia.com/tag/australian-competition-and-consumer-commission-accc/ Informing, connecting and developing the world’s travel industry professionals. Mon, 23 Jan 2023 05:13:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 Travel Has Returned, But Low Airfares Have Not https://dev.traveldailymedia.com/travel-has-returned-but-low-airfares-have-not/ Mon, 23 Jan 2023 05:13:50 +0000 https://www.traveldailymedia.com/?p=765988 The post Travel Has Returned, But Low Airfares Have Not appeared first on TD (Travel Daily Media) Brand TD.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission predicts that high costs will continue through 2023, despite recent statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing that tourism is on the upswing. It’s no secret that international arrivals and departures have increased in the last half a year. However, even though 77% of travellers still report feeling […]

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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission predicts that high costs will continue through 2023, despite recent statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing that tourism is on the upswing.

It’s no secret that international arrivals and departures have increased in the last half a year. However, even though 77% of travellers still report feeling unsure about taking an international flight in the wake of the COVID outbreak, the numbers have recovered to the level they were in February of this year: 1.52 million.

Since Chinese citizens were also not allowed to leave the country until recently, arrivals from other countries have stepped in to fill the void. Unsurprisingly, New Zealanders accounted for the largest group, with 91,210 visitors, Brits with 55,410, and Americans with 51,220.

Due to the recent changes in China’s COVID restrictions, it is expected that the total number of international students studying in Australia will increase dramatically. Despite the significant increase in 2022, the annual intake of Chinese international students is still very beneficial to Australian educational institutions, especially universities.

While this is all good news for prospective holidaymakers, there is a silver lining in rising airfares, which appear to have no end in sight.

Global aircraft capacity has increased in the previous year. Still, travel costs have followed suit, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium, which estimated that a ticket to Europe is up 21% from pre-pandemic levels.

Domestic flight prices have also risen, prompting the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to mandate that they be constantly monitored.

According to new statistics from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE), while airfares have decreased and discounts have grown since Christmas, prices have remained high despite increasing demand and reduced network capacity.

The report comes as the competition authority has placed the industry on notice for late 2022, signalling that it would be monitoring domestic airlines to ensure more seats and flights are provided in an effort to bring down prices, which reached a 15-year high in December.

The COVID pandemic had a clear impact on airline supply, with challenges in employee numbers and flying capacity, resulting in prices being 27% higher than in 2019.

The Qantas group controls over 60% of the domestic market in Australia, whereas Virgin Australia controls approximately 33% and Regional Express 5%.

Bonza Airlines was formally cleared to fly last week but needs more market clout to push down airfares because it only serves rural routes with little capacity.

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Trivago could pay millions for duping consumers https://dev.traveldailymedia.com/trivago-could-pay-millions-for-duping-consumers/ Wed, 22 Jan 2020 03:16:34 +0000 https://www.traveldailymedia.com/?p=533842 The post Trivago could pay millions for duping consumers appeared first on TD (Travel Daily Media) Brand TD.

Hotel price aggregator Trivago is facing potentially a multi-million dollar fine after it was found that it breached Australian Consumer Law by misleading consumers with its ads.

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Hotel price aggregator Trivago is facing potentially a multi-million dollar fine after it was found that it breached Australian Consumer Law by misleading consumers with its ads.

The Federal Court in Melbourne passed down a 91-page judgement finding Trivago guilty of using a digital algorithm on its online hotel listings and favoured hotel partners that pay a higher commission to Trivago.

The Court also found out that the discounted prices displayed on the platform were actual room prices and the original prices were of upper-tiered room categories instead of like-for-like. Trivago’s “strike-through” price comparisons were misleading, as the strike-through price was often for a more expensive luxury room compared with a standard room.

According to consumer watchdog Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which brought Trivago to court, Trivago was giving consumers a false impression of savings and not “comparing apples with apples when it came to room type”. This activity was found to have been taking place from “at least December 2016” until at least 2 July 2018”.

On December 2018, TD reported that Trivago came clean of its misconduct and said, “By displaying the strike-through price next to the top position offer in the form it was displayed either on its own or in conjunction with the percentage savings box.” The company has since updated its website to tell customers that hotels are ranked by “compensation paid by the booking site.”

The decision sent a strong message to aggregators and metasearch websites should be upfront with customers whether the ranking is based on results or is influenced on advertising.

The hearing for penalties for Trivago will be set at a later date. The ACCC seeks ACCC has sought penalties for declarations, injunctions and costs.

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Trivago confesses to false advertising in Australia https://dev.traveldailymedia.com/trivago-confesses-to-false-advertising-in-australia/ Mon, 03 Dec 2018 07:00:37 +0000 https://www.traveldailymedia.com/?p=489133 The post Trivago confesses to false advertising in Australia appeared first on TD (Travel Daily Media) Brand TD.

Trivago has admitted that it led customers into believing that the results page shows the lowest prices in the “more deals” section.

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In a startling streak of honesty, Trivago has admitted that it led customers into believing that the results page shows the lowest prices in the “more deals” section.

In August, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took Trivago to court saying that the site violated Australian Consumer Law by showing misleading hotel prices through its TV and online advertisements from December 2013 to April 2018.

Moreover, Trivago compared luxury rooms with standard rooms making consumers believe that they are buying the best deal, even if it is not the case. In the end, the consumers are led into availing hotels that paid the company more commission than others or “prioritized advertisers who were willing to pay the highest cost per click fee,” said the ACCC in a statement.

The ACCC also alleged Trivago’s “strike-through” price comparisons were misleading, as the strike-through price was often for a more expensive luxury room compared with a standard room.

Trivago comes clean of its misconduct and said, “By displaying the strike-through price next to the top position offer in the form it was displayed either on its own or in conjunction with the percentage savings box.”

“Trivago may have caused some consumers to form an erroneous belief that the top position offer and the strike-through price were offers for rooms in the same room category.”

Trivago has since updated their website to tell customers that hotels are ranked by “compensation paid by the booking site.”

The case is still being heard in court and another deliberation is set for 14 December 2018 in Melbourne. Trivago may face a hefty fine for this, expected to be up to USD 10 million.

However, this settlement of the fine may not be the end of Trivago’s legal troubles. The New Zealand Commerce Commission said while it did not have a current investigation into Trivago it was following court proceedings in Australia and chances of another one following are floating on.

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