The Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) surveyed 200 products across six online travel agency (OTA) platforms offering overseas local tours and transportation services, finding that pricing practices and cancellation and refund policies were inadequate and in need of improvement.
According to the KCA on Thursday, the total number of damage relief applications filed with the agency regarding overseas local tour and transportation products from the six OTAs over the past three-plus years reached 246 cases, showing a year-on-year increase. The cases rose from 17 in 2022 to 62 in 2023 and 93 in 2024, with 74 cases recorded as of August last year.
The KCA's analysis of complaint types showed that "breach of contract" accounted for the largest share at 28.0% (69 cases). Most involved tours conducted differently from the itineraries provided in advance.
"Contract cancellation" followed at 26.4% (65 cases), including instances where consumers were notified just before departure that tours were unavailable due to omission from reservation lists or failure to meet minimum departure headcounts. "Withdrawal of subscription" accounted for 25.6% (63 cases), such as cases where operators refused refunds despite consumers requesting cancellations immediately after purchase.
Under the "Standard Terms and Conditions for Overseas Travel," travel agencies must notify travelers at least seven days before departure when canceling a travel contract due to failure to meet minimum departure headcounts.
However, among the 100 tour products surveyed, only 22.0% (22 products) disclosed minimum departure headcounts in advance. Of those 22 products, the majority (72.7%, 16 products) either notified consumers only one to three days before departure when tours were canceled due to insufficient headcounts or had no notification standards at all, indicating a need for improvement.
Deceptive practices were also found, including hiding the total price on the first screen or displaying children's fares as the representative price.
Under the Electronic Commerce Act, cyber malls must display the total amount consumers are required to pay on the first screen when listing product prices. The survey found deceptive advertising practices in 20.5% (41 products), such as displaying children's fares as the representative price or showing option product prices as if they were the main product price.
Additionally, among the 200 products from the six companies surveyed, 2.5% (5 products) displayed pre-commission prices rather than total amounts on the first screen, a dark pattern practice.
Furthermore, the Standard Terms and Conditions for Overseas Travel allow both parties to cancel contracts without compensation in cases of force majeure such as natural disasters. However, 50.0% (3 companies) of the six surveyed had no separate standards for force majeure situations.
Based on the survey results, the KCA requested the OTA operators to: ▲notify consumers at least seven days before the travel date when canceling tours due to insufficient minimum departure headcounts; ▲clearly display the total price on the first screen of product pages; and ▲establish cancellation and refund standards for force majeure situations such as natural disasters.
"For tour products with minimum departure headcount requirements, consumers should check the cancellation notification period and refund policies in case of insufficient headcounts," a KCA official said. "Consumers should carefully verify the final payment amount and exercise caution when purchasing non-refundable products."