The incumbent Federal Coalition government is being urged by the Australian Hotels Association to match Labor’s pledge to ban OTA rate parity practices if returned to government this year.
Following the Opposition’s election policy announcement this week to outlaw the practice if elected to government, TAA National Executive Director Bradley Woods said a bipartisan approach to the issue was needed.
“The announcement by Labor today is a significant step in the right direction and is a direct result of our advocacy on behalf of the thousands of AHA and TAA members across Australia.”
Woods said Labor’s policy was a sizeable shift from that at a federal level and that if they form government under leader Bill Shorten, the AHA and TAA will work to ensure the parity ban is legislated into law as soon as possible.
“While online travel agents are an important distribution partner, as with any duopoly, issues of unfair competition can arise,” he added.
“Accommodation providers should have the power to control their rate and their inventory so we strongly encourage the Coalition Government to match today’s pledge by Federal Labor.”