On Monday 1 September, the European Commission welcomed the code of conduct for reliable online reviews of tourist accommodation. This new code of conduct has been drawn up jointly by tourist ecosystem stakeholders, in particular accommodation providers and online platforms, and aims to improve the transparency and reliability of online reviews for consumers and businesses in the tourism and accommodation sector.
The signatories include the online accommodation rental platforms Airbnb and Booking.com, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), the European association representing hotels, restaurants and cafés HOTREC, and several European ministries of tourism.
This code of conduct should enable closer cooperation to guarantee the authenticity of reviews, by distinguishing between the reviews of customers who have stayed in the accommodation and those who have not, and will help tourists to make a more informed choice when booking their holidays. The co-creation process was facilitated and supported by the regulatory authorities and the Commission.
“This means clearer, fairer, more trustworthy, more transparent, and more reliable information for everyone”, commented Apóstolos Tzitzikóstas, European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism. “It’s a victory for travellers, a victory for tourism accommodation providers and a step towards a more resilient tourism sector”.
The code of conduct is open to tourist accommodation operators, associations, online platforms, consumer associations and other active stakeholders. By signing the code, they undertake to take steps to guarantee the authenticity of online reviews and ratings.
The text is based on the following principles: - alignment with the EU legislative framework, in particular the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD); - proportionality and flexibility with regard to the size and nature of the signatories; - statement of good faith; - proportionate effort; - collaboration between stakeholders to share information and raise awareness; - dynamic, futureproofed code.
Link to the code of conduct: https://aeur.eu/f/i7v (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)