The Albanese Government is delivering on its commitment to support tourism and accommodation providers to set their own prices when guests contact them to book directly.
Minister for Trade and Tourism, Don Farrell, and Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, Andrew Leigh, today announced that the Government will commence consultation to understand if online booking platforms are restricting the ability of tourism and accommodation providers to set their own prices, and to identify if any action is required to address this.
If online travel agents use price parity clauses or similar restrictions, this could overwhelmingly impact smaller accommodation providers, particularly smaller individual operators who rely on online travel agents to market their products.
During the consultation period, 25 November to 6 January, Australian tourism and accommodation providers, online booking platforms and other stakeholders are invited to provide written submissions on their views. Tourism and accommodation providers, including small businesses, may choose to complete a survey.
This activity builds on previous work done by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in 2016, which led to some of the largest online travel agencies removing certain types of price parity clauses in their contracts.
