The American Hotel & Lodging Association has claimed 15 million online hotel bookings in the US alone have been affected by "deceptive rogue affiliates".
The lobbying group obviously has a vested interest in having consumers book hotels direct with the property owner or chain, so perhaps the figures should be taken with a grain of salt.
But the material coming out of the AH&LA, following a consumer survey it did with research company GFK, warrants a mention as it does shine a light on the issue at a general level.
The 15 million dodgy bookings, AH&LA estimates, translates to around $1.3 billion in money "going to bad bookings" each year.
AL&HA defines "deceptive rogue" players as online travel agency affiliate members that masquerade as direct hotel booking sites.
The GFK research of 1,000 Americans apparently found some 6% of consumers had booked hotels with an affiliate site but were under the impression that it was the hotel's website.
Twitchy consumers to the tune of a remarkable one in five claim they have booked a hotel online but were "not sure" if they had been scammed by the website.
The AL&HA has also turned its attention to its usual arch nemeses, such as the big names in hotel bookings in the shape of Expedia and Priceline.
GFK's study found that an eye-watering 32% of consumers who made a booking through any OTA actually got a room that was different from what they anticipated.
Other stats to support AL&HA's argument that booking via intermediaries causes "headaches and hassles", include:
- 17% charged unexpected or hidden fees
- 15% did not get associated rewards points
- 14% charged an additional booking fee
- 14% could not get refund for cancellations
- 9% had reservations lost or cancelled
- 3% had identity or private information stolen
AL&HA president Katherine Lugar claims the the scammers have "eroded consumer confidence among third party vendors".
The group also claims that eight out of ten consumers are "unaware" how many brands are now under the ownership of the two major online booking companies since the latest rounds of consolidation.
NB:Hotel online scams image via Shutterstock.