Many travel organizations still do not have their offers in order, says the Consumers’ Association in a statement on Monday. Two-thirds of the investigated travel offers are still incorrect, the union reports on the basis of research. Some of the points mentioned: the price changes during the booking process, mandatory costs are added during or after booking or essential information is missing. Because travel providers still do not comply with the legal rules, the Consumers’ Association is going to summon providers. The Consumers’ Association checked whether a total of 250 travel offers from ten different providers could be booked for the advertised price. At Prijsvrij/D-reizen, KLM Holidays/Transavia Holidays and Expedia, not a single offer was correct, says the union. At The Travel Club, the price of 8% of the researched offers was also the final price. At TUI it was 16%, at Dé VakantieDiscounter 26% and at FTI just over half. At ANWB Reizen (72%), Sunweb (72%) and Corendon (92%), the price on offer was most often bookable for that price. At the beginning of last year, the Consumers’ Association also conducted research and came to similar conclusions. In response, all the tour operators promised to do better. “In the past year, we have submitted a number of cases to the Advertising Code Committee and they always ruled in our favour,” says Sandra Molenaar, director of the Consumers’ Association. ‘And regulator ACM also warned the travel providers. Yet, we still see numerous misleading advertisements. We find it downright disappointing that so little has improved in one year.’ The Consumers’ Association has again shared the investigation results with ACM and asked them to enforce them. ACM has indicated that various cases are currently pending to force travel providers to disclose prices clearly. Molenaar: ‘We have also informed the ANVR trade association that we expect it to hold its members accountable for this. But the ANVR only advises travel providers to follow the rules ‘where applicable’. With such a weak response, little improvement can be expected in the short term. That’s why we’re going to court. Travellers must be able to count on the fact that travel offers are correct.’ Photo: Sandra Molenaar, director of the Consumers’ Association.
