February 8, 2024 — The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) filed comments on the FTC’s Trade Regulation Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees NPRM. Travel Tech expressed support for the Commission’s continued efforts to enhance competition and pricing transparency for consumers but advocated that revisions be made about who should be held liable when inaccurate mandatory fee information is provided by travel service providers, including hotels.
Travel Tech provided detailed information in its comments about the indirect distribution channel, where millions of price points are transmitted from hotels and other travel service providers to Travel Tech member companies and other intermediaries. This complex process is critical to enabling the price and quality comparison tools consumers rely on.
“Travel Tech is committed to enhancing the consumer travel experience through transparency and competition,” said Laura Chadwick, President and CEO of Travel Tech. “However, the FTC’s proposed rule assumes that hotels will pass along its mandatory fee information – charges only they know and possess – but this is not always the case.”
Travel Tech strongly urged the Commission to revise its proposed rule to make clear that Intermediaries are not liable when Travel Service Providers fail to provide accurate, complete, and timely mandatory fee information as long as Intermediaries make reasonable efforts to receive such information.
Six years ago, Congress passed a law that held that intermediaries cannot be found liable when air carriers operating in the United States fail to provide information or data is required for intermediaries to comply with a rule about customer service information (FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-254 § 427, 132 Stat. 3340.). In addition, thirty-nine states have similar laws in place when sellers provide inaccurate sales tax information to marketplaces. In its comments, Travel Tech argued that the FTC should apply similar standards in its final rule.
The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents the leading innovators in travel technology, including online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
Association Puts Forth Recommendations to the Senate That Reflect Ticket Agents’ Role in the Travel Marketplace
February 8, 2024 – The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) submitted a letter to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation concerning S. 1939, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2023. The letter provides recommendations for the committee to consider ahead of the bill’s markup, including:
“We urge the Committee to adopt our recommendations to support travelers and the Travel Tech member companies that serve them,” said Laura Chadwick, President and CEO of Travel Tech.
The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents travel technology innovators ranging from dynamic startups, small, and midsize businesses to leading online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
February 5, 2024 — Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 (H.R. 7024). The bill restores critical pro-growth tax provisions that underscore the economic future for American workers and companies, alike.
By restoring the tax credit to its previous state, travel technology companies can immediately deduct the cost of their U.S.-based research and development investments, which will help enhance American innovation and incentivize job-creating investments for the travel industry and beyond.
In the days and weeks leading up to the vote on the bill, the Travel Tech Association (Travel Tech) worked to garner support. Prior to the markup, Travel Tech and 260 other associations sent a letter to the House and Senate leadership underscoring the importance of the bill.
“Travel Tech members and the other undersigned organizations, represent hundreds of thousands of businesses who employ tens of millions of Americans,” said Laura Chadwick, CEO of Travel Tech. “We’re pleased to see the House move forward with the bill and hope it can be supported by the Senate.”
The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents travel technology innovators ranging from dynamic startups, small, and midsize businesses to leading online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
Wednesday, January 31, 2024 — House and Senate Leadership recently announced a bipartisan deal to revive expired tax credits for research and development, among other provisions. The Travel Technology Association has endorsed the bill, H.R. 7024 Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024. Many travel tech industry members have utilized the R&D tax credits to develop new innovations to further empower traveler choice.
According to news reports, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on this legislation this week or next, with the Senate soon to follow. Tell your Members of Congress to support this bill by sending a letter through Travel Tech’s Policy Action Center.
The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents travel technology innovators ranging from dynamic startups, small, and midsize businesses to leading online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
On Wednesday, January 17, 2024, the Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) hosted grassroots advocacy expert Amy Showalter to explain how travel tech industry members can reach policymakers and advocate for public policies to support their companies and the industry as a whole.
As discussed in the webinar, all companies – both large and small – can champion priorities and support Travel Tech’s efforts to ensure legislation and policies support our industry.
Below are the top five key takeaways from Showalter’s presentation:
Policymakers want and need to hear from experts who have information earned through on-the-ground experience. Travel tech industry members know their business better than elected officials and should use that knowledge to their advantage.
“There is a need for people like travel tech industry members doing the hard work, knowing what it is like to live these regulations and legislation on a day-to-day basis,” said Showalter. “The need for you to communicate the reality of that to legislators is important so they, number one, understand it and number two, can eventually support you.”
Legislators can’t take into account your company’s point of view of pending public policies unless you – or your trade association – are interacting with them. To legislators, “no news” means “good news”; they will assume everything is working well in the travel tech industry. If you don’t engage with policymakers, there won’t be any movement on the issues the industry is collectively championing.
Lawmakers are reactive by nature, and who they see is who they remember. If there is a serious problem, you don’t want that to be the first time they’re interacting with you and the organization you represent. It’s important to proactively develop relationships with lawmakers and their staff.
“Provide consistently reliable information,” said Showalter when discussing the most effective lobbying activities that shape congressional members’ and staff decisions. “You don’t always have to say what they want to hear, but back it up with evidence and data. Be consistent. Be reliable. Be somebody they can count on.”
Humans understand stories, and there are scientific reasons that stories resonate. When advocating for your business in front of policymakers, think about your story.
“Is there a personal angle to this legislation that you can communicate? Lawmakers remember and want good stories,” Showalter said.
Companies are the travel tech industry’s best advocates, and the Travel Technology Association supports its member companies’ engagement with policymakers. Travel Tech’s new Advocate membership has several benefits, including education, public policy intelligence sharing, newsletter access, and the ability to promote company services and products in front of policymakers, including an upcoming Capitol Hill event in May.
For more information or questions about member benefits, visit our Join Us page.
The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents travel technology innovators ranging from dynamic startups, small, and midsize businesses to leading online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
Travel Tech Urges Congress to End the State Privacy Patchwork
As part of its advocacy efforts on behalf of the industry, the Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) announced a continued focus area for 2024: supporting a comprehensive national data privacy framework. To showcase its commitment to data privacy, particularly during National Data Privacy Week, Travel Tech published a new issue brief on the importance of a national data framework.
Since 2018, 185 comprehensive privacy bills have been considered across 46 states and 13 states have enacted comprehensive privacy bills. The lack of federal leadership on the issue has created a conflicting patchwork of privacy laws that confuse consumers and harm American businesses.
“A national framework is essential to protecting the privacy of consumers in the travel industry,” said Laura Chadwick, President & CEO of Travel Tech. “The current patchwork of state laws wastes resources on complicated compliance efforts and compromises privacy protections for the residents and tourists.”
The new webpage outlines Travel Tech’s key principles for federal privacy legislation. These include:
In August 2023, Travel Tech joined the United for Privacy: End the Patchwork coalition to advocate for comprehensive federal privacy legislation that creates a uniform national standard, preempts state law, and ends the privacy patchwork of various state regulations.
The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents travel technology innovators ranging from dynamic startups, small, and midsize businesses to leading online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
On Wednesday, December 6th, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce considered H.R. 6543, the No Hidden Fees on Extra Expenses for Stays (FEES) Act. In advance of the markup, the Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) submitted a letter to the Members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The committee passed the legislation in a vote of 44-0.
The No Hidden FEES Act will require – for the first time ever in federal law – consumers to be shown the total price for a hotel room (including rate and all mandatory fees). Under this legislation, the total price must be “transparent to and easily understood by the consumer.”
Laura Chadwick, President & CEO of Travel Tech stated, “The No Hidden Fees on Extra Expenses for Stays Act is an important first step to bring much-needed transparency to consumers from hotels to rein in their troubling resort fee practices.”
Travel Tech supports provisions in the bill that will set a single, national standard for the transparency of mandatory fees assessed by hotels. It will create uniformity and certainty for hotels, short-term rentals, online ticket agents, metasearch agents, and others, and most of all, travelers – no matter where they reside in the U.S. – about what is included in advertised pricing for lodging.
“Despite the benefits of this legislation, H.R. 6543, however, lacks a common-sense provision to account for when hotels fail to provide accurate and complete information to price comparison sites,” Chadwick added.
Thirty-nine states have laws in place to protect against situations when inaccurate sales tax information is conveyed from the seller to the marketplace and onto the consumer. These state laws rightly hold the seller – in this case, hotels – responsible in such instances and not the marketplaces like those of Travel Tech member companies. Travel Tech simply seeks the same fair consideration on the federal level regarding mandatory fee information.
Read our full letter.
The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents travel technology innovators ranging from dynamic startups, small, and midsize businesses to leading online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
Right now, policymakers on the federal, state, and local levels are debating public policies directly impacting your travel technology company. Now, more than ever, the travel technology industry must come together and advocate for pro-innovation legislation and regulations to support the continued growth of our industry.
But what does advocacy for the travel tech industry look like? What can companies and their leaders do to support these efforts while running their businesses, especially without policy-focused staff?
Join Travel Tech on Wednesday, January 17th, 2024, at 1:00 pm for a free webinar featuring Amy Showalter, grassroots and PAC influence expert, to answer these questions and more.
You will learn:
Through publishing multiple books, guest lecturing, and winning awards for her innovations, Amy Showalter has developed and galvanized thousands of grassroots evangelists and staff who want to advance their case through the legislative process. She is the most published expert in the nation on grassroots and PAC performance, with over 900 publications featuring her insights.
Register today to secure one of the 100 spots available for this session and uncover the keys to impactful advocacy.
Promotes Companies as the Engines Behind Traveler Choice
Monday, November 27th — The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) unveiled a campaign this week educating policymakers on the importance of Global Distribution Systems (GDS), which power the technology behind online travel sites, mobile apps, travel agents, and a multitude of travel solutions. With a sponsorship of Politico’s Morning Transportation newsletter and a new website and video, Travel Tech is advocating for the technology and companies that increase transparency and choice in travel.
Travel Tech represents leading GDS members Amadeus, Sabre, and Travelport. Without GDS platforms, travel bookers would be unable to compare prices in one place, forcing them to visit airline, hotel, car rental, and other travel suppliers’ websites one by one in search of the best prices and schedules.
“GDS technology allows consumers and travel agents to compare schedules, fares, and fees between travel suppliers, making travel more competitive and accessible,” said Laura Chadwick, President & CEO of Travel Tech. “Travel Tech members provide consumers with choice at each stage of their travel journey. If airlines or other travel suppliers choose not to share ancillary fee data with GDS companies, it harms not only the GDS but their own customers.”
The new video developed by Travel Tech describes how GDS platforms work by connecting travel bookers and travel suppliers to promote price transparency and competition. GDS technology allows consumers to search for, compare, and book among thousands of travel options.
More Resources on Global Distribution Systems:
The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents travel technology innovators ranging from dynamic startups, small, and midsize businesses to leading online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
Thursday, November 16th, 2023 — The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech), the voice of the travel technology industry and advocate for public policy that supports a competitive and transparent marketplace, led an interactive panel discussion focused on “Responsible AI: Is Regulation the Answer and How Far Should It Go?” at the recent Phocuswright Conference held in Hollywood, FL.
Robert Cole, CEO, RockCheetah, Sundar Narasimhan, SVP, President of Sabre Labs & Product Strategy, Sabre, and Lara Tennyson, Head of US Federal Affairs, Booking Holdings joined Laura Chadwick, President & CEO of Travel Tech on the panel.
“Since the debut of ChatGPT over a year ago, policymakers in Washington, DC have grappled with what, if anything, government should do to regulate the use of AI, which will undoubtedly impact both large and small travel tech companies,” said Chadwick. The innovative travel technology industry has long employed AI and machine learning to support and streamline their companies’ or clients’ business functions. Recently, industry members have developed and debuted new tools to empower traveler choice.
Panelists and audience members at the Phocuswright session shared their concerns about the consequences of overregulation and how important it is to have travel innovators as part of the policymaking process. They also agreed that the travel tech industry should come together to promote the responsible use of AI in travel.
“We heard important feedback at this session to guide Travel Tech’s advocacy with members of Congress and the Biden Administration,” said Chadwick. “This is the essence of the work we do at Travel Tech to support the industry on this topic and many others. I strongly encourage others to reach out to the association and share their points of view.”
The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents travel technology innovators ranging from dynamic startups, small, and midsize businesses to leading online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
Tax has a disproportionate and outsized impact on travel tech industry July 24, 2024 – Today, Travel Tech sent a formal letter to Ambassador Katherine Tai, the United States Trade Representative, strongly urging the Biden Administration to take decisive action in response to Canada’s newly implemented digital services tax (DST), given its outsized impact on […]
