The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) released a statement in support of the recently-introduced Stop Online Booking Scams Act, while the Travel Tech Association slammed it.
For those who aren’t in the know on hospitality associations, the AH&LA could be seen as representing the interests of the more traditional hospitality and lodging groups, whereas the Travel Tech Association counts Expedia, Priceline, Sabre, Amadeus, Travelport, TripAdvisor and Airbnb among its ranks.
The Stop Online Booking Scams Act was introduced by Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL), Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA) on Wednesday, February 10. The new legislation would require third-party hotel booking sites to disclose that they are not affiliated with the hotel being booked, give more power to states to go after fraudsters in federal court, and simplify the fraud reporting procedure.
“Our research clearly shows that consumers are worried about scams when booking online with third parties—and rightly so, because many of them have personally experienced very serious, horrible situations,” said Katherine Lugar, president and CEO of AH&LA in an official release.
Meanwhile, the Travel Tech Association is interpreting the bill differently.
“The reality is consumer confidence and trust in online travel innovators is higher than ever,” said Philip Minardi, spokesman for the Travel Technology Association, in its official statement on the bill. “This is a thinly veiled attempt by the hotel lobby to scare consumers into booking direct.”
More information on the bipartisan bill is available on Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s website. Official statements from the AH&LA and the Travel Tech Association can be accessed below:
http://www.ahla.com/pressrelease.aspx?id=38529
http://www.traveltech.org/the-stop-online-booking-scams-act-a-solution-in-search-of-a-problem/
