OTA | Duff on Hospitality Law

Rate Parity as Price Fixing: UK’s Office of Fair Trading Statement Suggests Trouble Ahead for Industry Standard Online Travel Agent Contract Provisions

By Ruth Walters on August 3rd, 2012 Posted in Technology, Travel, Update

The United Kingdom’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT) issued a Statement of Objections this Tuesday alleging that industry giants Booking.com B.V., Expedia, Inc. and InterContinental Hotels Group violated the UK’s Competition Act of 1998. The Statement of Objections will not be made public, but from OFT’s comments, it’s rate parity and best rate guarantees that… Continue Reading

Buzz, Skepticism about Room Key Hotel Search Site

By Ruth Walters on January 23rd, 2012 Posted in Hotels, Technology

Room Key, a brand new player in the on-line hospitality market, launched in beta on January 11, 2012 to some excitement and some hard questions. Room Key is a joint venture among six U.S.-based hotel chains—Choice Hotels International, Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Hotels*, InterContinental Hotels, Marriott International* and Wyndham Hotel Group—that allows users to search for… Continue Reading

Travel Agent “Victory” on Occupancy Taxes in Missouri: Developing Trend?

By Ruth Walters on July 20th, 2010 Posted in Hotels

Missouri governor Jay Nixon signed HB 4211 into law on July 8, adding another point in the travel agent column in the contest with hoteliers, cities, counties and states over hotel/motel occupancy tax issues. The Missouri law codifies the current practice of all municipalities that assess occupancy taxes, namely, the hotels pay tax on the… Continue Reading