The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has issued interim regulations on online tourism operation and service management, which took effect on Oct 1, focusing on regulating bad business practices on online tourism platforms.
Article 13 of the Regulations makes it clear that online tourism operators shall not block or delete tourists' comments on their products and services without authorization, and shall not mislead, lure, replace or force tourists to make comments. The comments made by tourists shall be kept and made public.
According to the regulation, online tour operators should protect the safety of tourists' personal information, and should not abuse big data or other technological means to set unfair trading conditions based on consumption records and travel preferences or infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of tourists.
Unfair trading conditions often refer to the practice wherein if new user and an old user buy the same goods or services, the old customer sees a higher price than the new user. Operators use big data and other technical means to set differentiated prices for the same product or service under the same conditions for consumers with different characteristics.
That's price gouging. Some companies take advantage of information asymmetry and, without your knowledge, quietly raise the price to make you think it's just the way it is.
For example, on an online travel platform APP, you can check the same hotel with two accounts.
The price is 1,130 yuan for new users and 1,349 yuan for old users. 大数据杀熟行为10月起明令禁止
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has issued interim regulations on online tourism operation and service management, which took effect on Oct 1, focusing on regulating bad business practices on online tourism platforms.
Unfair trading conditions often refer to the practice wherein if new user and an old user buy the same goods or services, the old customer sees a higher price than the new user. Operators use big data and other technical means to set differentiated prices for the same product or service under the same conditions for consumers with different characteristics.
