Half of overseas hotel booking platform users report harm, Seoul survey finds

As overseas travel rises, so does use of international accommodation booking platforms — and one in two platform users has experienced harm, a new survey shows. Yet only 10 percent of those affected said their complaints were resolved, pointing to serious gaps in consumer protection.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to ask the relevant ministry to strengthen oversight of platform operators and to recommend the introduction of a new regime — tentatively titled the "Overseas Accommodation Booking Platform Consumer Protection Compliance Audit" — to address the problem.

Seoul conducted the monitoring exercise together with consumer advocacy group Sobija-wa Hamkke, covering six overseas accommodation booking platforms with high domestic market share: Agoda, Airbnb, Expedia, Booking.com, Trip.com and Hotels.com. A separate awareness survey was carried out among 1,000 consumers who had used an overseas accommodation booking platform at least once in the past three years.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the monitoring found that some platforms engaged in so-called "dark pattern" practices, displaying prices that excluded taxes and fees to attract users — a structure that causes the final charge at checkout to exceed what consumers initially expected.

Investigators also found cases in which important information — such as whether a cancellation penalty applies or whether a booking is non-refundable — was displayed in small print or otherwise made difficult to notice.

The investigation further identified instances in which platforms responded passively when refund or penalty disputes arose, directing consumers to resolve issues directly with the overseas accommodation provider rather than intervening themselves.

In the consumer awareness survey, 41 percent of respondents said they were "dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied" with their experience using overseas accommodation booking platforms. The top reasons cited were false or exaggerated advertising — such as amenities that did not match what was listed (26 percent), refund and cancellation penalty problems including outright refusal to refund (26 percent), and unclear price displays that excluded taxes and fees (24 percent).

Fifty-five percent of respondents said they had in fact suffered harm while using a platform. Losses under 100,000 won (about $67) and those in the 100,000–300,000 won (about $200) range together accounted for 75 percent of all cases.

On whether their complaints were resolved, 64 percent said issues had been "only partially resolved" — the most common response — while 26 percent said their complaints went unresolved. Only 10 percent said their cases were fully resolved, underscoring the inadequacy of consumer redress for overseas accommodation booking disputes.

Seoul attributed the problem to two factors: the difficulty of applying existing consumer dispute resolution standards to overseas accommodation transactions, and the platforms' unwillingness to play an active role in resolving disputes.

In response, Seoul plans to ask the Korea Fair Trade Commission and the registration authorities for each platform to strengthen oversight and enforcement of Article 20 of the Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce, which governs the responsibilities of online marketplace intermediaries.

In addition, the city intends to recommend the introduction of a new periodic audit that would assess whether overseas accommodation booking platforms are meeting their consumer protection obligations and make the results public.

Seoul advised consumers to confirm that the price shown at checkout includes all applicable taxes and fees before completing a booking, and to carefully check for any differences between the platform's and the accommodation provider's refund policies, as well as cancellation terms.

Consumers who have suffered harm while using an overseas accommodation booking platform can seek advice and file for redress through the Seoul E-Commerce Center or the Seoul Livelihood Economy Safety Center.

"Building on this survey, we will push for regulatory improvements and encourage platforms to manage their businesses responsibly, so that the consumer safety net becomes ever more robust," said Kim Myeong-seon, head of Seoul's Fair Economy Division.