Hotel booking websites: compliance principles for businesses
How to be transparent with consumers and comply with consumer protection law.
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This guidance was published prior to the unfair commercial聽practices聽provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act) coming into force on 6 April 2025. These provisions聽contain聽broadly similar prohibitions against unfair and misleading commercial practices as under the聽previous聽legislation, the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs).
More detail on the legislative differences between the DMCC Act and the CPRs is available in the聽.
For further guidance,聽see聽Unfair commercial practices.
Hotel booking websites may also find it helpful to review:聽
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the CMA鈥檚聽guidance on fake review practices聽to the extent consumer reviews and/or consumer review information is displayed (in other words, information derived from or influenced by consumer reviews, for example overall ratings, 鈥榮tar鈥� ratings, summaries, review聽counts聽and rankings)聽
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the CMA鈥檚 guidance on聽price transparency听补苍诲听getting consent for additional charges when selling online
These principles聽explain聽how聽businesses聽offering online accommodation booking services聽must聽be聽transparent聽when displaying pricing information.聽聽
It covers:聽聽
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disclosing聽how聽payments聽affect聽search results聽rankings聽
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being clear about genuine price discounts聽
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clearly displaying total costs聽
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informing customers clearly about the聽popularity and availability聽of hotels聽
These principles are聽for聽online travel agents,聽search聽engines, big hotel聽groups听补苍诲听individual hotels offering online booking, amongst other types of business.聽聽