The pictures displayed by hotels on the platform are inconsistent with the actual room types in the hotel; consumers booked rooms with windows, but the hotel said that only rooms without windows could be arranged upon arrival; hotels claim to be five-star hotels, but have not participated in the domestic star rating and do not have official five-star hotel qualifications... The State Administration for Market Regulation recently announced a batch of typical cases of unfair competition in the tourism industry.

In May of this year, the Haizhou District Market Supervision Bureau of Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, initiated an investigation into Lianyungang Jiujiu City Hotel Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the party concerned) for failing to provide services as agreed and for false advertising, based on complaints and reports. The investigation revealed that a consumer booked a "comfortable king-size bed room" for the May Day holiday through an online travel platform, which indicated that the room type had a window/openable window. Upon check-in, the party concerned was unable to provide a room with a window as agreed in the order. Staff used the excuse that "prices have increased during the May Day holiday, and only rooms without windows can be arranged," leading the consumer to cancel the order.

It was further discovered that the photos of the "special twin rooms" displayed on the online platform did not match the actual room types in the hotel, thus misleading consumers into placing orders. The hotel has been fined 20,000 yuan by the market supervision department.

An official from the State Administration for Market Regulation stated that online booking has become the primary channel for tourists to choose hotels, and the room photos and facility descriptions displayed on these platforms are crucial factors for consumers' purchasing decisions. Operators who use room photos of unknown origin or that do not match the actual rooms, deliberately concealing room defects, directly infringe upon consumers' right to know.

Hotel star ratings are a unified official qualification recognized by the cultural and tourism departments. Hotels that have not participated in the rating process can only objectively describe their facilities in accordance with the standards and are not allowed to directly use the term "five-star hotel." However, the Wyndham Grand Wenchang branch in Hainan Province did not participate in the national tourism hotel star rating system and did not obtain the official five-star hotel certification issued by the cultural and tourism departments, yet it claimed to be a five-star hotel. In February of this year, a consumer inquired about the hotel's star rating in the company's official live broadcast room, and the host replied that the hotel was a five-star hotel. The Wenchang Municipal Market Supervision Bureau ordered the hotel to correct its illegal behavior and fined it 3,000 yuan. (Source: Workers' Daily)