Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make representations with his international counterparts and tourist industries overseas to online hotel booking websites on revising their practices on (a) brand jacking, (b) fear of missing out statements, (c) undercutting partner prices and (d) the online reviewing system.

I will continue to meet regularly with stakeholders across the Tourism sector to discuss a range of issues.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) previously investigated the practices of hotel booking websites, reporting its conclusions in September 2019. Following this, 25 major hotel booking sites signed up to the CMA’s sector-wide principles for providing online accommodation booking services. The CMA continues to monitor compliance with consumer protection law in the sector.