498 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM • the contribution to processes’ modernisation and the sector’s promotion in the market; • the information to provide relevant knowledge to the sector; and • the promotion of events and work groups in the Commercial, Human Resources and Socio-Environmental Responsibility areas. II. ONLINE TRAVEL AGENCIES (OTAS) Installed in several countries of the world, including Brazil, the so-called Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) have been expressively expanding their participation in the tourist market for the last five years, mainly in the intermediation of air transport and lodging, with very competitive offers and publicity. The first one, initially dedicated to the sale of air transport, was Decolar, from Argentina’s Despegar, with massive television advertising and exclusive sales through an electronic platform whose early screens were not transparent about the actual price to be paid. At the same time, Booking entered strongly in the segment of national and international hotel bookings, with prices often lower than those the networks themselves offered on their websites, linked to restrictions such as full payment in advance and with no right to any refund in case of cancellation. These practices, contrary to the principles and rules of the Brazilian Consumer Protection Code, placed OTAs under the spotlight of the administrative and judicial authorities responsible for their application, generating some improvement in market practices. However, related to the providers of intermediated services, in particular lodging, the growing importance of such tourism agencies structured on digital platforms has provided a dominant position in negotiations with hotel chains. Moreover, using this dominant position, the above-mentioned OTAs, as well as Expedia, have begun to require that hotel chains do not offer their daily rates at lower values than those made available for them, even if they do so directly on their websites or for their regular customers. In this scenario, the networks associated to FOHB requested the entity to provide representation, before the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), against these companies, in order to verify this practice and conclude whether it would constitute a violation against the economic order since it constitutes an abuse of a dominant market position.
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