The Competition Council has sanctioned 13 travel agencies and the National Association of Travel Agencies (ANAT) with total fines amounting to 11,419,539.35 RON (approximately 2.45 million EUR) for anti-competitive agreements on the charter market.
The Competition Council found that, between June 2013 and September 2016, 13 travel agencies coordinated their commercial policies, including through the exchange of competitively sensitive information, with the aim of preventing price drops for marketed tourism products/packages.
Thus, the travel agencies did not reduce the selling price to customers for tourism products and/or tourism service packages below a certain level.
Furthermore, they limited or eliminated promotional campaigns of competing companies that offered discounts or freebies to customers and divided the number of seats on contracted charter flights to artificially limit supply and increase the selling price.
The travel agencies fined by the Competition Council are:
1. Aerotravel S.R.L. – 400,754.46 RON (approx. 86,003 EUR);
2. Air Fla S.R.L. – 9,618.91 RON (approx. 2,064 EUR);
3. Corali Holidays S.R.L. – 6,644.12 RON (approx. 1,426 EUR);
4. Eximtur S.R.L. – 685,116.14 RON (approx. 147,027 EUR);
5. Fibula Air Travel S.R.L. – 88,310.64 RON (approx. 18,952 EUR);
6. Happy Tour S.R.L. – 519,597.56 RON (approx. 111,506 EUR);
7. Nova Travel S.R.L. – 124,616.00 RON (approx. 26,743 EUR);
8. Paralela 45 Turism S.R.L. – 1,723,737.00 RON (approx. 369,917 EUR);
9. Prestige Tours International S.R.L. – 2,139,282.82 RON (approx. 459,093 EUR);
10. Prompt Service Travel Company S.R.L. – 186,084.73 RON (approx. 39,934 EUR);
11. Rezeda World Travel S.R.L. – 28,780.08 RON (approx. 6.176 EUR);
12. Tez Tour S.R.L. – 55,930.00 RON (approx. 12,003 EUR);
13. Touring Europabus Romania S.R.L. – 5,397,762.87 RON (approx. 1,158,368 EUR).
Christian’76 Tour S.R.L. applied for the leniency program, providing evidence of anti-competitive acts, and received immunity from the fine.
9 of the 13 companies (Aerotravel S.R.L., Eximtur S.R.L., Fibula Air Travel S.R.L., Nova Travel S.R.L., Paralela 45 Turism S.R.L., Prompt Service Travel Company S.R.L., Rezeda World Travel S.R.L., Tez Tour S.R.L., Touring Europabus Romania S.R.L.) admitted participation in the anti-competitive practice and benefited from a 20% reduction of the base fine level.
The investigation will continue to analyze the possible anti-competitive behavior of the National Romanian Air Transport Company Tarom S.A., specifically the facilitation of the anti-competitive act.
The Competition Council sanctioned ANAT with 53,304.02 RON (11,439.12 EUR) because, between September 2012 – April 2016, it prohibited its members operating as resellers for tourism products and/or tourism service packages from granting customers discounts by yielding part of the commissions they received from the companies (tour operators) offering those tourism products/packages. ANAT admitted its anti-competitive act and benefited from a 20% fine reduction.
Additionally, the Competition Council imposed on ANAT the obligation to organize and conduct training sessions for member agencies and their employees to understand competition regulations and thus be able to identify possible anti-competitive practices.
The Competition Council’s investigation began after a YouTube video of a 2013 meeting in Predeal came to the institution’s attention, where one of the speakers directly urged the establishment of a minimum price for vacations and the coordination of market behavior to the detriment of customers.
The Competition Authority requested the improvement of the regulatory framework through the correct and complete transposition of the European Directive on package travel and linked travel arrangements (EU Directive 2302/2015), so that both tourists and operators in the field are protected.
Source: Profit
Frequently Asked Questions
Why were the travel agencies fined by the Competition Council?
The agencies were fined for coordinating commercial policies and fixing prices for charter travel packages to prevent price competition.
Which company received immunity from the fines?
Christian’76 Tour S.R.L. received full immunity after applying for the leniency program and providing evidence of the anti-competitive practices.
What was the reason for ANAT’s sanction?
ANAT was sanctioned for prohibiting its members from offering discounts to customers by giving up part of their own sales commissions.