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- With things to go out: hotels want to oblige guests to look for rooms when overbooking
With things to go out: hotels want to oblige guests to look for rooms when overbooking
This week, the State Duma plans to introduce a bill that will oblige hotels and other accommodation facilities in the case of overbooking to look for other options for tourists, regardless of how the reservation was made — directly, through a tour operator or an aggregator. The number must be of a higher category or equivalent. It is possible to offer accommodation in a lower class only with the consent of the guest and with compensation. There are similar rules in the draft rules for the provision of hotel services. But this, the State Duma explained, is not enough. How the issue is being resolved now and whether the hotel is always to blame for overbooking, they wrote in the Izvestia article.
Who should be responsible
"We will prepare a package of documents for the introduction of the bill, but there is no exact date and time yet. We plan that it will be submitted to the State Duma this week," Natalia Kostenko, deputy chairman of the Committee on Tourism from the United Russia faction, explained to Izvestia.
According to her, the problem now is that, for example, the aggregator is not required to provide a number in case of overbooking.
— This is just a platform where tourists sign contracts with various service providers, — said the deputy. — When hotels place more offers on aggregators than they can provide, the consumer is not informed about this. He arrives at the hotel and is informed on the spot: there is no room, the place was taken by the person who checked in earlier.
Natalia Kostenko reminded that when such a situation arises, for example, in aviation, the company is obliged to provide a person with the opportunity to get to their destination on the next flight or pay compensation. In the case of hotels, it is unclear who should be responsible, the deputy points out.
— Usually the claim is submitted to the aggregator. But the settlements between the aggregator and the hotel do not play any role, because the consumer enters into a contract with the hotel and it is he who is obliged to provide the service or compensate for the inconvenience. But often the hotel does not do this, but simply refuses to check in," Kostenko notes.
Bona fide aggregators can find another hotel, but this, she states, does not always happen.
— It happens that a tourist is left without a room, and then lawsuits begin. Fortunately, we don't have many similar cases. But nevertheless they exist. As a result, the vacation turns out to be ruined," concludes Natalia Kostenko. — If overbooking is the fault of an aggregator or a tour operator, then the hotel needs to deal with them. A person must be provided with the accommodation they have booked.
According to the bill, in the case of overbooking, the hotel will need to offer tourists accommodation of the same category or higher, but without additional charges. The provision of a room or hotel of a lower class is allowed only in agreement with the guest and with compensation for the difference.
Is the norm excessive
Meanwhile, in the government decree on the approval of the rules for the provision of hotel services and other accommodation facilities of the Russian Federation, which is currently under discussion, the obligation to provide the consumer with a replacement or a higher category without additional charges, or in another accommodation facility (with payment of transportation costs), or compensation by written consent is prescribed. But, according to lawmakers, this is not enough.
Non-refundable tariffs are also included in this document, but without legislative consolidation, the requirements are illegal, since the services are provided by virtue of a contract, explains Natalia Kostenko.
— If there are no special conditions in the law, then such requirements, in fact, violate the freedom of contract. Thus, in order for the rules to apply in terms of overbooking, they, like non—refundable tariffs, need to be fixed by law," she emphasizes.
Georgy Mokhov, Vice President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (PCT), General Director of Persona Grata Law Firm, stressed that the requirements are too strict and the rules alone cannot do.
— There is an indication to pay for some additional services, such as transport, and this cannot be set by the rules. You never know what tourists will want to go on, maybe by limo," he lamented.
At the same time, the expert noted that, on the one hand, failure to provide a paid number is a serious violation of consumer rights, and in such a situation it is not enough to return the money — additional compensation for losses is needed. And their size and validity can be very difficult to determine, even in court. On the other hand, in his opinion, the norm is excessive.
— The Law on Consumer Rights Protection already indicates the contractor's obligation to compensate for losses in the event of a unilateral cancellation of the contract, — explained Georgy Mokhov. — And how this happens — in a claim procedure or with the intervention of the court, depends on the integrity of the contractor, in this case, the accommodation facility.
Human factor and system error
According to experts, overbooking in hotels is now an infrequent phenomenon, but it can occur for a variety of reasons. Moreover, both hoteliers and aggregators are called different among the main ones.
Sometimes the hotel is mortgaged to guests who "definitely won't come," but in the end, everyone arrives. Sometimes the human factor works — the hotel staff incorrectly takes into account bookings received from different sales channels: by phone, mail, from their website and through online travel agencies (OTA), says Yuri Vyushin, director of hotel market development at the Tutu travel service.
— It happens that the hotel gives priority to long—term or regular guests, and those who booked for a short period of time encounter "technical errors," the source told Izvestia.
According to him, other scenarios also happen. For example, a wealthy traveler arrives, but there are no places. Sometimes the reception staff can offer a room that the guest has already booked, but has not yet had time to check in. At the same time, the price is called several times more.
The expert did not rule out real technical failures.
— The booking system may work with a delay, the partner agent may upload the data incorrectly, and the hotel itself may send extra rooms for sale. This is a technical failure that is possible in the entire chain: from the agent to the hotel," he explained.
Alexander Bragin, Director of the Association of Travel Aggregators (ATAG), stressed that overbooking in the hotel industry is an isolated case of tens of thousands of cases. He confirmed that this may be due to the fact that hoteliers have multiple sales channels at the same time. Data is usually well synchronized, but it is extremely rare that something can be duplicated.
Finally, one should not exclude the human factor — mistakes of managers or travel agents, Kamila Velibekova, Managing partner and founder of Premier Tourism, emphasized.
"Misunderstanding, late updating of room statuses, or common inattention can lead to a conflict situation with the guest," the expert notes.
Another reason is force majeure. Sometimes some rooms become uninhabitable due to breakdowns, accidents or other unforeseen circumstances that the hotel cannot influence, Kamila Velibekova added.
In turn, the director of the hotel management company "DESO.The resort (Sochi) Olga Kiryushina said that overbooking cases are extremely rare in their practice. As a rule, they are not related to the actions of the hotels themselves, but to technical delays in the transfer of information between booking systems. For example, due to imperfect data exchange, when aggregator or tour operator systems update information with a delay. But a human factor is also possible — errors in managing room quotas.
—Deliberate resale of rooms by hotels is extremely rare, since the reputational risks here are higher than the potential benefits," the expert emphasized.
According to Evgenia Kizey, Product Director at Multitour, there are many options, and each party can be responsible for such a situation.
— Sometimes the tour operator does not remove the rooms from sale on time. It happens that the hotel does not inform about the stop, and the tour operator continues to sell seats according to the quota. Sometimes there are technical failures when two operators book the same number for tourists from different cities, and the system confirms both requests," she said.
What the law says
The rights of tourists are regulated by the Federal Law "On the Basics of Tourist Activity" and the Law of the Russian Federation "On Consumer Rights Protection," said Olga Stepanova, lawyer, Candidate of Law, expert at the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg.
— The right of a tourist is not limited only to the replacement of a room for accommodation. The tour operator (if we are talking about a travel product) must accommodate the tourist in an equivalent room or higher class in the same hotel or another, but without lowering the category. At the same time, the replacement must be agreed upon," she reminded.
Alexander Teplyakov, a tourism expert and travel agent at Coral Travel, adds that, according to the law, despite the problem from the service provider, the tour operator is responsible to the tourist. If the hotel is booked by travelers on their own, then the same Civil Code of the Russian Federation and the law "On Consumer Protection" are included. 781, 782 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, this is considered improper fulfillment of obligations under a contract for the provision of paid services.
— The accommodation facility is obliged to make a refund of the amount paid, compensation for losses and moral damage. According to the GDPR, they must provide an alternative or compensate for expenses if the guest is forced to look for accommodation on their own," concluded Alexander Teplyakov.
Olga Stepanova confirmed that if, for example, the proposed option does not suit the tourist, then he has the right to demand a proportionate reduction in the price of the tour, compensation for losses incurred due to poor-quality or untimely provision of services, a penalty for late performance of obligations, compensation for moral damage, termination of the contract and a full refund.
Judicial practice shows that the amount of compensation can significantly exceed the initial cost of booking, especially in cases where overbooking has caused disruption of important events or caused significant inconvenience to tourists, said Nadezhda Kapustina, Professor of the Department of Economic Security and Risk Management at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Economics.
Dinner to boot
At the same time, all market participants say that they are trying to minimize the inconvenience of tourists. If a situation does happen, then it is the hotel that takes responsibility for the decision, Olga Kiryushina emphasized. In addition, the guest can claim compensation for the inconvenience caused — it depends on the policy of the particular hotel.
According to Yuri Vyushin, good hotels themselves are looking for a replacement, negotiate with colleagues, compensate for the difference in the cost of living and try to leave a pleasant impression.
— But, unfortunately, not everyone behaves like that. In this regard, booking a hotel through an aggregator turns out to be safer for the traveler: the big players are not ready to lose their reputation and will fight for everyone, providing alternative options and incurring all additional costs, and then they deal with the hotel themselves," he said.
Yuri Vyushin recalled that such situations occur more often in high season. For example, the probability of overbooking in the Krasnodar Territory is higher in the summer, and in St. Petersburg - on May holidays and on white nights. According to him, if the hotel refuses to solve the guest's problem, OTA can offer an equivalent replacement, even if in fact it will cost more.
Tatiana Chumikova, head of the legal department of the RealtyCalendar daily real estate management service, also noted that the legislative regulation of overbooking will lead to the need for hoteliers and those who, for example, rent out daily real estate, to incur additional costs — financial and temporary — for rechecking bookings. In addition, by reducing the risk, accommodation facilities can reduce the number of sites where ads are placed, which will narrow the tourist's choice. They also reminded us of another problem that needs to be taken into account, which is consumer terrorism.
"Knowing about their right to compensation, if provided for by law, a tourist, having received a cancellation notice even in advance, with a proposal to find a new facility or change the type/category of accommodation, may prefer to enter into a dispute and receive maximum compensation," she added.
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