BARSA addresses advertising standards issue

This follows an earlier announcement that BARSA is working with the ASA to facilitate an agreement between various travel and aviation industry bodies to create amicable industry codes of practice which will ensure industry self-regulation in compliance with the current ASA Code of Advertising Practice.

To this end, BARSA will also be approaching the relevant industry regulatory bodies to review certain business practices which are currently in effect and which, in the airline body's opinion, are not in line with business principles such as transparency.

Initiatives welcome

Head of legal and regulatory affairs for ASA, Gail Schimmel, says: "We welcome any initiatives by industry to self-regulation and when various industry stakeholders play by the same rules, experience has shown that it is far more likely that a particular industry will have higher levels of compliance."

According to her, the ASA's primary role is to ensure that the end-consumer is not misled with regard to factors such as pricing. "To determine this, we ask the question: do consumers know what they are going to pay for a specific service/product at the end of the day?"

She acknowledges, however, that there are often factors at play within specific industries that may influence certain codes and therefore codes of advertising practice are often reviewed following feedback and consultation with industry bodies such as BARSA.

As close as possible

"Until such time as an industry code review is tabled before the ASA, BARSA recommends that its airline members follow ASA Codes of Practice by ensuring that the airfare advertised is as close as possible to the actual price the consumer will pay on his/her air ticket. And furthermore, to highlight the fact that there may be price fluctuations due to certain factors," says Hancock.

She adds that in the case where those fluctuations may result in a considerably higher price than the advertised airfare, the fluctuation should be mentioned in the advertisement (e.g. R5000 return flight to a given destination - with limited seating and subject to a price fluctuation of between R1200 to R1500 due to various factors including service fees, fuel surcharges, airport taxes and more). This is in line with current ASA codes of Practice.

At a briefing held between the ASA and BARSA members on Friday, 25 August 2006, Schimmel emphasised that ASATA's guidelines - published on 1 August 2006 and which "are intended to assist the industry to provide fair and inclusive advertising of airfares and air inclusive products to the consumer", according to a statement on ASATA's website - are applicable to the body's travel agency members only and not to the industry in general.

Watchdog

"In working with ASA to ensure compliance with Codes of Advertising Practice - whether through its guidelines or any other means - ASATA is enabled to act as a watchdog for its members, just as BARSA is similarly enabled to ensure its members comply with the ASA Codes. However, it is our conviction that no industry body is specifically mandated to act as a watchdog for the public or any industry outside its own jurisdiction," stresses Hancock.

In her briefing to BARSA members, Schimmel further added that the ASA is not pro-active but rather reactive and will only seek action from a specific advertiser if a consumer (or other industry body) lodges a formal complaint with the advertising standards body.

"More often than not, should the advertiser find the complaint valid, they will act responsibly and withdraw the advertisement in good faith, in which case no punitive measures will be taken," she concluded.