Colombia’s Superintendent for Tourism and Industry (SIC) suspended the national registration of a popular Argentinian travel agency over misleading ads and insufficient price information.
Despegar.com now faces a 10-day suspension on any commercial activities or distribution of information as well as a fine of about $6,000, according to a statement released by the SIC Tuesday.
The travel agency was accused of displaying misleading advertisements that did not include sufficient information about taxes that were eventually added to purchases.
Additionally the authorities questioned an advertisement campaign called “Best Price Guaranteed,” which, according to the SIC, could not actually guarantee the best price available on the market.
The travel agency now has ten days to appeal the sentence, in which case punishment would be reviewed, once again, by the SIC.
Punishments would increase in the future should the company fail to correct the false marketing practices it is currently being accused of.
Sources
- Superindustria suspende temporalmente Registro Nacional de Turismo a DESPEGAR.COM por publicidad engañosa (SIC Press Release)
