Frequent incidents of online booking third-party agents defrauding travelers have been criticized by the Japan Tourism Agency, specifically naming Agoda.

Travelers need to be very careful when booking hotel rooms in Japan on the Agoda website. This year, many travelers booked through Agoda only to find out upon arrival at the hotel that there were no rooms available at all, and some travelers' names were not even on the hotel list, turning their trip into a nightmare.

The media has discovered that unscrupulous third-party agents use false online low prices to entice consumers to place orders, but travelers find out at hotel check-in that there are no rooms available or that the prices and room types are incorrect, far exceeding the deposit amount. There are also issues with misleading room photos (( showing different room types and specifications and prices) and credit card fraud, which infuriates travelers.

The hotel booking website Agoda has faced multiple complaints from travelers, raising widespread concern in Japan's tourism industry. Japan's Tourism Agency director, Shigeki Murata, publicly pointed out on the 16th that Agoda has a series of improper operations, directly criticizing and demanding that the operators improve, but received a cold response. The following is a compiled report.

Local and foreign travelers' complaints are constant.

Travelers from Japan and abroad have reported to the Japan Tourism Agency that there are often problems with hotel rooms booked through Agoda. For example, some travelers confirmed their reservations online, only to find upon arriving at the hotel that there were actually no available rooms, and the hotel had no record of their bookings. Additionally, the type of room booked was vastly different from what the hotel actually provided, and the prices did not match the amounts displayed during the online booking process, leaving travelers feeling confused and dissatisfied.

A traveler from Yokohama recalled booking a single room for 13,000 yen on Agoda, only to receive a phone call on the day of his reservation informing him that the room had been canceled and could not be occupied. In the end, he had no choice but to select a more expensive hotel, a situation that left him feeling confused and disappointed.

The Japan Tourism Agency requests Agoda to improve.

Since March of this year, the Japan Tourism Agency has received a large number of complaints from Agoda travelers. Agency Director Shigeki Murata pointed out that these issues have affected many domestic and international travelers coming to Japan. Due to the ongoing problems, the Japan Tourism Agency has requested Agoda to make improvements, while also highlighting the need to enhance customer protection measures.

Agoda subsequently responded, stating that it would cease cooperation with certain third-party agents and plans to introduce a series of improvements in the coming months to ensure that all third-party agents meet the standards.

The third-party agent is the root of the problem.

Why does Agoda frequently encounter problems? Airline and travel analyst Takato Niihama explains that in Japan, hotels and booking websites share information about available rooms to ensure the timeliness of the information. However, Agoda not only collaborates directly with hotels but also works with many third-party agents who book rooms at a low price first and then sell them to consumers at a higher price. Sometimes, these agents do not confirm the actual status of the rooms with the hotels in advance, leading to completely incorrect information.

Takato Nakanishi pointed out that some unscrupulous agents, in order to profit from the price difference, will publish information about available rooms on Agoda even if the rooms have not yet been confirmed as vacant. This practice may lead to customers completing their bookings online, but in reality, they have not actually secured a room, or the room type and price provided by the hotel are completely different from what was displayed at the time of booking.

Toyoko Inn hotel group criticizes poor operations affecting performance.

The well-known Japanese hotel group Toyoko Inn believes that these issues have far-reaching impacts on the hotel industry. The group's executive director, Chiyo Nakazawa, stated that when customers arrive at the hotel and find that their rooms have not been booked or that the reserved room type and amount are inaccurate, it leads to a negative experience for them. Additionally, some room prices on Agoda are higher than the standard prices set by the hotel, and the cancellation policies are not clear enough, with some being non-refundable, which makes consumers feel uneasy. While sales on many travel websites have been increasing year by year, operators have not been safeguarding consumers, and similar issues may occur more frequently.

How can consumers prevent being exploited?

How can consumers avoid similar situations? Experts recommend that travelers should pay special attention when booking, and after order confirmation, they should actively contact the hotel to verify whether the order was successful. If they still feel uneasy, the safest way is to book directly on the hotel's official website to avoid the risks associated with intermediary platforms.

Agoda is a Singapore-registered accommodation booking website that offers over 6 million hotels, flights, and travel booking services worldwide, supporting 39 multilingual languages. The issue of fraudulent third-party agents scamming travelers with Agoda is not only happening in Japan; hotels and travelers in Taiwan are also frequent victims. Many small and medium-sized hotels do not know how to promote themselves online and can only rely on third-party agents to operate. These agents sell hotel rooms with false information, leading to complaints from travelers, and hotels not making money while receiving negative reviews. This allows unscrupulous agents to profit immensely, and what's even more outrageous is that some agents are in cahoots with scams, selling fake vacancies and even stealing consumers' credit card information, causing even greater losses. Now, during the peak tourist season, when purchasing flights and hotels online, one must be extra cautious to protect their rights and safety.

This article discusses the frequent incidents of online booking third-party agents defrauding travelers, with Japan's Tourism Agency specifically criticizing Agoda, which first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.