2023-12-13 16:50:16
The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) is investigating several travel agencies for possible anti-competitive practices consisting of agreements to manipulate and distribute tenders, called by the General Administration of the State, for the provision of travel agency services in Spain and abroad.
The companies investigated are: IAG7, Viajes El Corte Inglés and its parent company El Corte Inglés, Nautalia Viajes and its parent company Wamos; Sekai Corporate Travel, Viajes Halcón, Ávoris Retail Division, Ávoris Corporación Empresarial and its parent company Grupo Barceló.
According to the agency’s statement, these anti-competitive behaviors would be contrary to article 1 of the Law on the Defense of Competition (LDC) and article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
For the CNMC, travel agencies could have shared clients and/or public tenders, in addition to having exchanged commercially sensitive information.
The Competition Directorate of the CNMC has initiated this file based on the information collected through the provisions of article 132 of the Public Sector Contracts Law (LCSP), and after having inspected the headquarters of IAG7, Viajes El Corte Inglés, Nautalia Viajes and Grupo Barceló from March 28 to 31, 2023.
The initiation of this file does not prejudge the final result of the investigation. A maximum period of 24 months is now open for the investigation of the file and its resolution.
Cartel detection
The CNMC recalls that agreements between competitors constitute a very serious infringement of competition legislation, which can lead to fines of up to 10% of the total business volume of the offending companies. In fact, the investigation of cartels constitutes one of the CNMC’s priorities for action, given the special seriousness of its consequences on consumers and the correct functioning of the markets.
The CNMC also has an online platform for citizen collaboration to detect cartels. This platform, called the System of Anonymous Competition Reporters (SICA), allows anonymous reporting on anti-competitive practices, such as agreements between competing companies to fix prices or other commercial conditions, distribution of markets or customers, or distributions fraudulent public or private tenders.
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