Travelzoo accused in Center Parcs pricing row
Tuesday, 15 Sep, 2009
0
Center Parcs has demanded an apology and legal assurances from Travelzoo over a "miseading" holiday offer.
The £199 ‘early bird’ 50% off deal was used with a Center Parcs logo for around a week without the company giving permission.
The offer on Travelzoo was also picked up by Facebook and Yahoo!
Complaints to both the Advertising Standards Authority and trading standards officials over copyright infringement are now being considered, Center Parcs sales and marketing director Colin Whaley revealed.
He accused Travelzoo of running misleading advertising which undermined the domestic holiday company’s brand position.
“We have taken legal advice on this because it is not right,” he said. “We will be asking for reassurance that it won’t happen again because we don’t want to be associated with misleading advertising.”
Whaley said he was particularly concerned that Travelzoo users were being given the impression that Center Parcs had started offering special price cuts when it is the company’s policy not to promote percentage discounts.
He conceded that a number of £199 rates had been made available but Travelzoo had made no attempt to seek permission to promote these or to use the company’s logo, he said.
Travelzoo Europe managing director Chris Loughlin said that a “genuine error” had been made and the company had apologised to Center Parcs.
Attempts were made to contact Center Parcs about running the offer and it had been taken down once Travelzoo was alerted to the error, he added.
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Clearing CSS/JS assets' cache... Please wait until this notice disappears...
Updating... Please wait...
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Skyscanner reveals major travel trends 2026 at ITB Asia
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
In Italy, the Meloni government congratulates itself for its tourism achievements