Over the past five years, there have been about 4,800 reports of consumer harm involving domestic and overseas travel and lodging platforms, but the Fair Trade Commission imposed sanctions based on legal violations in only nine cases.
According to data obtained from the Fair Trade Commission and the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) by the office of Kim Sang-hoon of the People Power Party, a member of the National Policy Committee, on Nov. 14, the cumulative number of applications for consumer relief related to online travel and lodging platforms totaled 4,851 from 2020 through September this year. The number of applications filed was 357 in 2020, 367 in 2021, 469 in 2022, 803 in 2023, and 1,263 in 2024, and 1,592 for this year (January–September), showing an annual increase.
By platform, Agoda, an overseas operator, had the most with 2,561 cases. It was followed by Yeogi Eottae with 790, Yanolja with 774, Booking.com with 350, and Airbnb with 376.
The most common type of harm involved disputes over contract cancellations and penalty fees. For Agoda, which had the most cases, 1,380 out of 2,561 (54%), and for Yeogi Eottae, 450 out of 790 (57%), were related to contract cancellations and penalty fees.
For Yanolja, 406 out of 774 applications for relief (52%), for Airbnb, 250 out of 376 (66%), and for Booking.com, 172 out of 350 (49%) fell into that category. In addition, cases related to travel and lodging platforms were filed across various areas, including breach of contract, unfair practices, withdrawal of subscription, labeling and advertising, and quality issues.
However, during the same period, only nine cases, or just 0.19%, saw the Fair Trade Commission confirm legal violations by travel and lodging platforms and impose administrative measures. This is why critics say the commission's oversight function is effectively not working.
According to records of actions taken for legal violations by travel and lodging app operators submitted by the Fair Trade Commission's Seoul Office and Market Surveillance Bureau, from 2020 through last month, six operators—Yanolja, Agoda, Booking.com, Airbnb, Yeogi Eottae, and Nol Universe—received a total of nine measures such as corrective orders, penalty surcharges, and announcements of legal violations. Of these, Agoda and Booking.com were ordered in Nov. 2022 to pay fines and to publish their violations for breaching the E-Commerce Act, respectively, and Airbnb was fined in March this year for a "cybermall labeling violation."
Among domestic platforms, Yanolja and Yeogi Eottae were each given corrective orders and penalty surcharges in Aug. this year for providing disadvantages. Although the Fair Trade Commission's initial data included 12 cases, businesses not directly related to online lodging—such as Expedia, Interpark, and TMON—were excluded. The data submitted by the commission are tallied separately from the Korea Consumer Agency's relief cases and are based on instances where the commission determined there were legal violations and imposed measures.
Kim Sang-hoon said, "Consumer harm surpassed 4,800 cases in five years, but the Fair Trade Commission issued only nine sanctions, which amounts to a near-paralysis of its oversight function," adding, "We need to overhaul the oversight framework and enforcement standards to match the surge in harm caused by online travel and lodging apps."