Over the past decade, the hotel industry has experienced immense change driven by the evolving travel patterns and preferences of American consumers. As the leading voice representing every segment of the hotel industry, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) is guiding efforts to examine these evolving trends and meet consumer expectations head-on – one of which is the need for legislation to ensure transparency and consistency in lodging fees. The hotel industry supports implementing a federal standard regarding mandatory lodging fee disclosure requirements, and we’re glad to see federal lawmakers coming to the table to make it happen.
The “Hotel Fees Transparency Act,” introduced by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Jerry Moran, would not just apply to resort fees, but to a large spectrum of lodging-related fees that consumers encounter – including cleaning fees, destination fees and other service charges that are required for booking with hotels, short-term rentals, and with online travel agents. The bill would ensure that anyone booking a stay on any platform will always see prices with any mandatory fees included. AHLA supports this legislation as well as the House-passed “No Hidden Fees on Extra Expenses for Stays (No Hidden FEES) Act,” introduced by Representatives Young Kim and Kathy Castor. Now, it’s important that both chambers of Congress come together, finalize this legislation in one comprehensive package and deliver these long-awaited changes to lodging fee transparency standards.
While resort fees have gotten a bad rap as they’ve gotten caught up in the “junk fee” debate, the small percentage of hotels that do have mandatory additional fees disclose these to prospective consumers in a transparent manner – and these fees do provide customer value. Only 6% of hotels charge consumers a mandatory additional fee (such as a resort or amenity fee). Oftentimes, these additional costs support the bundling of amenities such as pools, parking, shuttle services and other goods and services at a much lower price than what would be incurred if consumers paid for them separately. We understand the frustrations consumers can face when it comes to fees, especially when they’re not included in the up-front price of their hotel stay.
We believe it’s important that prospective guests are always aware of exactly what they are paying for when booking their stay, which is why we support these recent efforts in the U.S. House and Senate to improve transparency in pricing through the establishment of a single standard for the display of fees across the entire lodging industry, which would require them to be included in the price that consumers see throughout the booking process.
This means that as consumers shop for and book lodging through a wide variety of channels and providers, lodging and booking fee disclosures must apply to all third-party distributors – such as online travel agencies (e.g., Expedia), metasearch sites and search engines (e.g., Google), as well as short-term rental platforms (e.g., Airbnb). A level competitive playing field for industry participants paired with a clear and consistent display for consumers is of paramount importance – and we believe the “Hotel Fees Transparency Act” and “No Hidden FEES Act” achieve these goals.
We’re encouraged to see that Congress recognizes the need for consistent and broadly applicable mandatory fee disclosure and display requirements across the entire lodging, booking, and advertising ecosystem, and we look forward to final legislation reflecting this need. By ensuring that the entire lodging industry is held to the same standards, consumers are protected from surprise fees and are empowered with all the information they need up-front when booking a stay.
