Where Did Disclosure Go?

Planner Peeve: The hotel is not telling me if a commission is being paid on my meeting.

What ever happened to this industry’s commitment to full disclosure on bookings that are commissionable to a third party?  It took years to get the hospitality industry to agree to reveal to the ultimate purchaser of a meeting that a commission was being paid to a third party. In the last few years, most hotel chains have quietly agreed to replace the term commission with the phrase “a fee has been paid.”

I have asked many meeting planners if they think that the term commission and fee mean the same thing. Everyone asked,  thought that a fee meant a fixed amount. Everyone was surprised and disappointed to hear that the term fee actually refers to a commission.

Should the hotel community re-embrace full disclosure and show commissions as commissions in their contracts?