Drip-pricing in hotels - could you be breaking the law?

In this episode, we deep dive into drip-pricing the practice when a headline price is initially shown to travellers when they are browsing online, where additional elements of the price being added or ‘dripped’ as they move through the checkout process.Richard Collie, Managing Associate for TLT LLP a consumer law expert at award-winning law firm with particular specialism in the leisure industry, including advising on consumer regulatory matters looking at investigations brought by the Competition and Markets Authority.We look atWhat is drip-pricingExamples of how it is used in travel and hospitality industryWhy drip-pricing is an issue for consumers and businessesWhat the UK government is planning to doThe risks for businesses if this policy comes inFor further reading check out: The UK government has made it clear that it wants to stamp out the most harmful forms of ‘drip pricing’. On 24 January 2024 it announced that it would bring forward new legislation banning hidden fees. The policy justification behind the new rules are as follows:Drip pricing undermines price transparency and make it difficult for consumers to make informed purchasing decisions based on the price of a product or service andIt also limits price competition because businesses often compete on misleading headline prices rather than the price which consumers must pay in practice.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68075851https://news.sky.com/story/drip-pricing-three-psychological-reasons-we-fall-for-the-technique-and-how-to-resist-the-it-12959042https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/25491349/hotel-costs-drip-pricing-extra-fees-charges-holiday/#:~:text=HOTELS%20have%20been%20accused%20of,the%20overall%20price%20actually%20is.https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2024/01/25/Hospitality-sector-welcomes-legislation-to-ban-drip-pricinghttps://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/government-confirms-plans-to-tackle-drip-pricingNote that DBT also commissioned a detailed report estimating the prevalence and impact of online drip pricing in certain sectors – including hospitality and travel.Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/ Follow us on LinkedIn for more thought-provoking content: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/ Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/