Under a new travel agency law in Japan, which goes into effect May 10, the original sellers could have to pay compensation as high as 5 percent of the cost of the whole tour package if many changes are made to a customer's planned travel.
While the Japanese cannot assess penalties on local providers, such as hotel companies in Hawaii, the aim is to use penalties at the top to encourage travel businesses to make sure consumers get exactly what they buy, tour business officials say.
Representatives of the Japan Association of Travel Agents explained the new law at a seminar in Waikiki earlier this week, organized by the Japan Hawaii Travel Association.
The penalties apply to just about everything provided in the package tour deal, but the officials said minor changes, such as not getting the type of food expected in one restaurant, won't be involved.
Switches of airlines or the class of travel or the type of hotel room are treated as serious, however.
The penalties begin at 1 percent of the total tour package price in Japan for changes made after the tickets are sold but before travel begins. A change in the departure date, for example, would require the seller to pay the customer 1 percent of the total tour price. So would a switch of airlines or hotels from those originally specified.
Penalties rise for changes after travel has started. Changing the timing, such as arrival time, from what was promised will cost the seller 3 percent of the package price. Putting someone in a mini-bus when they expected a limo could cost 2 percent.
A change in the type of accommodations or the view, from what was originally sold, will cost the seller 2 percent of the tour package if it comes after the trip begins.
The 5 percent hit comes after a number of changes once the traveler is on the way. Perhaps the tourist gets shifted to a U.S. airline instead of a Japanese one, gets here to find it's an off-beach hotel instead of beachfront, gets two single beds in the back of the hotel instead of a double looking over the water and can't get in to see Don Ho.
The tour organizers in Japan are being advised to spell out in detail just what is included in the contract with each client. Travel officials here from Japan to explain the law said the Japanese tour provider's obligations begin with the brochures given to the clients before they book.
If what the customers end up getting is not what they saw, the seller can be in trouble, they said.
Hawaii operators won't be penalized if they make changes, said Kazuhiko Shiraya, president of the Japan Hawaii Travel Association and head of VITA U.S.A., a local seller of ground travel and activities to visiting Japanese.
However, they already have contracts and contractual obligations requiring them to provide what they sell, he said. For example, his company is contracted by several big companies in Japan. In turn, VITA contracts with local hotels to book a certain number of rooms of a specific type, such as beachfront, and other services, Shiraya said.
He said the law came about in part because of pressure from consumers, who were seeking more of a guarantee for the travel they were buying.
It also had the overall backing of the travel industry. There were small agencies selling unreliable travel, he said, and the established, reliable businesses supported the law to weed out the unreliables.