Travel and tours: the numbers, the rules, the AI picture.

• FTC Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465)

  The rule bans fake or false reviews and testimonials, including AI-generated ones. It bans buying or selling them, and publishing them when you knew or should have known they were fake. It also bars undisclosed insider reviews, company-controlled sites posing as independent review sources, fake social media indicators and review suppression through unfounded legal threats or intimidation. It bars offering incentives conditioned on a positive or negative sentiment. The rule took effect October 21, 2024.

  What it means: Ask every guest for a review, with the same request for all, and never reward only five-star reviews. Do not pay or discount for a review that must be positive, and do not threaten a guest over a negative one. Disclose reviews from staff or relatives. Do not show only your best reviews as if they were all of them. Do not write reviews for yourself or buy them from a broker.

  [8] ftc.gov

• FTC Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees (16 CFR Part 464)

  Effective May 12, 2025, the rule requires any business that offers, displays or advertises live-event tickets or short-term lodging to disclose the total price up front, including mandatory fees it knows about and can calculate. Government charges, shipping and optional add-ons may be left out of the total but must be disclosed before payment. The FTC’s FAQ names travel agents as covered when they advertise lodging or event tickets. It does not say whether tours, packages or cruises are covered.

  What it means: If you sell or advertise hotel rooms, vacation rentals or event tickets, show the all-in price first, in the same size as any base price. For tours that bundle lodging, treat the same discipline as the standard. Even where the rule is silent, a headline price that grows at checkout is what travelers abandon. Check with counsel whether your products fall inside the rule.

  [9] ftc.gov

• US Department of Transportation full-fare advertising rule (14 CFR 399.84)

  The rule treats three practices as unfair and deceptive. Advertised prices for air transportation, tours or tour components must include all charges the customer pays, with taxes and similar charges allowed to be shown separately but not more prominently than the total. An each-way fare that requires a round-trip purchase must be advertised as each way. Optional services cannot be added by default. It covers air carriers, their agents and ticket agents, and tours that combine air transportation with ground or cruise accommodations.

  What it means: If you sell flights, or tours that include air, show the total per person including all mandatory charges. Never pre-check an optional add-on such as insurance. Do not label a fare one-way when it needs a round trip. If you only sell ground tours, the rule does not reach you, but it shows where regulators draw the line on pricing.

  [10] law.cornell.edu

• State seller-of-travel laws: California and Florida

  California requires all sellers of travel to register with the Attorney General’s Seller of Travel Program before operating, and says the registration number should be clearly displayed on all advertising materials. Registration does not mean state approval. Florida requires each seller of travel to register annually, and its statute requires each advertisement, contract, certificate or travel document to carry a set statement: the firm is registered with the State of Florida as a Seller of Travel, with the registration number.

  What it means: Put your registration number in your site footer, on booking pages and in ads, using Florida’s exact wording where Florida applies. Keep your Google and social profiles consistent. Whether a tour operator counts as a seller of travel depends on the statutory definitions and on what you sell, so confirm with the state before you assume you are in or out.

  [11] oag.ca.gov

• State seller-of-travel laws: Washington and Hawaii

  Washington’s RCW 19.138.100 requires the registration number to be included in all advertisements, and conspicuously posted at the place of business. The statute exempts institutional advertising, defined as advertising with no travel prices or dates. Hawaii requires a travel agency to register with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs before selling or advertising travel services. Its licensing page lists travel agency and charter tour operator license types and a client trust account requirement.

  What it means: In Washington, add the number to any ad or page that shows a price or a date, and keep brand-only ads number-free if that suits you. In Hawaii, confirm which license type fits before you advertise, and ask the department how its rules treat displaying the number. We did not find Hawaii’s display rule on the pages we opened.

  [12] app.leg.wa.gov

• UK Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, ATOL and UK price rules

  The regulations define a package as a combination of at least two different types of travel services for the same trip, sold under one contract or at an inclusive price, with other routes for packages advertised as such and for linked online bookings. Organisers and retailers carry duties on pre-contract information, changes, performance and insolvency protection. Separately, the UK’s consumer protection rules from April 6, 2025 ban drip pricing and fake reviews as unfair commercial practices. The Civil Aviation Authority’s ATOL standard terms set advertising rules for flight-inclusive holidays.

  What it means: If you sell to UK travelers, work out whether what you sell is a package, a linked travel arrangement or a single service. Each has different information duties and protection duties. Show the total price including mandatory fees. Where ATOL applies, follow the CAA’s current advertising guidance. A US tour operator selling only a ground tour to UK visitors is usually a single travel service, which is much lighter. Confirm with UK counsel.

  [13] legislation.gov.uk

• EU Package Travel Directive (Directive (EU) 2015/2302)

  The directive sets common rules for packages and linked travel arrangements across the EU. Under Article 17, organisers established in a Member State must provide security for the refund of traveller payments if services are not performed because of insolvency, and for repatriation where passenger transport is included. Traders who facilitate linked travel arrangements must clearly tell travellers they do not get package rights and that each provider is responsible for its own service.

  What it means: If you sell packages to EU travelers, or you are established in the EU, you need insolvency protection and clear pre-contract information. Make your pages say, in plain language, what is a package and what is a separate booking. If you sell a single tour, the package rules usually do not apply, but your national consumer law still does.

  [14] legislation.gov.uk

• GDPR and traveler data (Regulation (EU) 2016/679)

  The GDPR applies when you process personal data of people in the EU. Article 9 starts from a general ban on processing special categories of data, including health data and data that reveals religious beliefs, unless a ground such as explicit consent applies. Travel bookings routinely collect mobility needs, dietary requirements linked to health or religion, and passport details.

  What it means: Collect only what the tour needs. Ask for dietary and accessibility needs with a clear purpose and explicit consent where the data reveals health or beliefs. Keep passport data out of marketing lists. Add a clear privacy notice to booking forms, and get consent before you send marketing emails to past guests. Use a processor agreement with any booking tool that holds the data.

  [15] gdpr-info.eu

This is general information, not legal advice. Travel regulation changes and varies by state and country. Check your state’s seller-of-travel office, the FTC and the Department of Transportation, and your own counsel before you publish.