In today’s Travel News: Hotel Advertising Transparency Act is an important topic of discussion. Many hotel and lodging providers advertise their room rates along with taxes and government fees.  However, in order to remain competitive, a number of these providers do not disclose in their advertising their mandatory fees like: resort taxes, cleaning or booking fees.

Marriott and Hilton have recently been sued for allegedly violating local consumer protection laws by imposing extra fees and not disclosing the full costs to travelers who are searching online.

These hidden fees, that are mandatory, are expected to reach as much as $3 billion in revenue during 2019 for the hotel and lodging industry. This issue is quite important to budget conscious black travelers.

The hot topic in travel news is the Hotel Advertising Transparency Act of 2019 (CLICK HERE to see H.R. 4489) is a bipartisan legislation that has been introduced by House by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, and Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Nebraska. 

If the bill becomes law, it would not only require hotel and lodging providers to disclose mandatory costs upfront, but it would also give enforcement authority over hotel price advertising to the Federal Trade Commission and to state attorneys general under provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act.

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