Province to mandate ‘all-in’ prices for travel advertising
The Ontario government is making it illegal to advertise travel packages without including all of the taxes and fees in the price.

Thestar.com
By ROBERT BENZIE
Dec. 13, 2016

No more hidden fees, no more fine print and no more sticker shock.

The Ontario government is making it illegal to advertise travel packages without including all of the taxes and fees in the price.

That means a week in the tropics advertised for $1,200 would have to actually cost $1,200 and not = as is currently the case = $1,200 with an asterisk denoting an additional $340 in levies for a $1,540 price tag.

Government and Consumer Services Minister Marie-France Lalonde is to announce Tuesday at Billy Bishop Airport that all-in pricing will take effect on Jan. 1.

While Ottawa introduced such measures on federally regulated airfares four years ago, package tours continued to be advertised without all of the charges included.

“We’ve all gone online to book travel and got a big surprise once we get to the payment page,” Lalonde is to say, according to prepared remarks.

“The price we thought we were getting has changed significantly = and it is never lower,” she is to say.

“We may have called a travel agent or company about a price we saw advertised in the newspaper = only to find that the price we saw is not the price we would have to pay.”

Under the change, Ontario’s nearly 2,500 travel agents and tour wholesalers will be required to display the total price for consumers in all of their promotional material - in print, online, and on radio and TV.

Lalonde believes the “consistent all-in pricing rules will reduce consumer confusion and make it simple, clear and easy to book travel.”

The all-in pricing edict comes as the minister is reviewing the Travel Industry Act, which has not been updated since 2002 = long before the birth of such sharing-economy staples as Airbnb.

In February and March the provincial government will begin public consultations on the legislation with hopes of boosting consumer protection while also being business-friendly.

Richard Smart, president and CEO of the Travel Industry Council of Ontario, said in a statement that his administrative authority welcomes the new ad rules.

“All-in pricing provides consistent guidelines for the travel industry when advertising and promoting the price of travel services,” said Smart.

“Reducing confusion helps consumers and businesses,” he said.