Terms and conditions apply: Fine print and the selling of tourism

Abstract

The commodification of tourism includes the production and dissemination of words and images used to sell experiences. Tourism marketers use highly visible assurances that the experiences available are pleasurable, safe and convenient. These assurances are projected into a promotion-oriented front region. However, fine print terms and conditions – the rules that define the rights and obligations of tourism providers and consumers – occupy a back region that, in part, runs counter to the impressions fostered in the front region. Tourism marketing, it is argued, involves two mutually supportive domains that drive the sale of tourism: conspicuous (front region) words and images as well as inconspicuous (back region) fine print. A more comprehensive conceptualization of tourism marketing should consider the functions performed by the fine print. The four Ps typically associated with the marketing mix – product, price, promotion and place – are used for the purpose of organizing the analysis of the complexly crafted small type that is often hidden in plain sight but sometimes receives highly publicized scrutiny within a media-generated front region. Fine print terms and conditions (whether successfully obfuscated or the subject of a media expose) are responsible for creating a ‘stipulation surplus’, money earned or saved via the imposition of restrictions. The marketing of tourism involves the making of front region promises tempered by the imposition of back region parameters.

Keywords

Back region fine print front region marketing mix stipulation surplus terms and conditions

Introduction

A wide range of media are used to persuade many millions of people worldwide to become tourists. For example, brochures and internet sites entice viewers to purchase commodified experiences (Edelheim, 2007; Pritchard and Morgan, 1996, 1997). Would-be tourists are presented with promises of comfort, a hospitable host population, spectacular natural attractions and access to places far removed from the mundane world. Highly visible words and images are joined together within the front regions of promotional materials in order to project an object of desire, the purchase of which is designed to satisfy tourists’ yearnings (Salazar, 2012; Tresidder, 2010). The realm of conspicuous selling is occupied by marketers and those who develop tourism products and promotions (Voigt and Laing, 2010).

Transforming tourism into a saleable commodity is not only a matter of attracting notice and attention. One must also consider the creation and use of fine print terms and conditions: small, densely presented type that can be difficult for consumers to decipher and typically appear within a more inconspicuous back region (Ismail and Mills, 2002). Fine print is an omnipresent dimension of the selling of tourism. Tourism providers are incentivized to publicize the most attractive aspects of their products and hide the most unappealing ones. The marketing of tourism entails the careful preparation of materials that have both front and back regions.

Consumers can plainly see the fine print but often do not have the necessary skills to comprehend its meaning. Shrouded meanings embedded within the fine print could be interpreted as occupying a back region even if the actual text is visible and can be readily accessed. Choosing to ignore the fine print and accepting its contents unconditionally when making a purchase also relegates it to a back region; it is usually paid no heed. Rarely do consumers read and understand standard form contracts (Ben-Shahar and Schneider, 2011); vendors exercise tremendous power when they require consumers to accept the contents of the fine print and enforce its provisions (Radin, 2013). Front and back regions can be observed across many commercial domains (Langman, 1991; Pinch, 2010) as both conspicuous and inconspicuous activities serve business interests.

With respect to experience-based commodities, such as tourism, product attributes are not observable prior to purchase. Prepurchase inspection is impossible; only until the trip is taken can consumers assess its worth. Certain promises are made to prospective and actual tourists through marketing paraphernalia (Dolnicar and Ring, 2014). Visible images and verbal appeals as a means of generating intense feelings and connecting with people’s values are particularly important when the product is intangible and related to fantasy (Buzinde et al., 2006; Salazar, 2012). The promises made can be extraordinarily profitable when they are deftly crafted and mobilized. Fine print, however, exists in tension with the promises that are made; it establishes parameters. Small-type terms and conditions – similar to more conspicuous words and images – have become deeply rooted in commerce. Front regions are spaces where customer service is provided, are readily accessible to visitors and contain the ‘acceptable’ face of capitalism – for example, advertisements. Back regions sometimes feature commercial activity that is purposefully masked (Goffman, 1959; Langman, 1991), including poor workplace conditions and densely complex fine print that disguises certain product attributes and fees. Both regions house functions crucial to the operation of capitalism.

Building off the dichotomy of the front and back regions developed by Goffman (1959), this article demonstrates that some aspects of tourism are expressively accentuated by providers (the promises) and others are carefully shrouded but still structure marketing practice (the parameters). Although some aspects of commodification are emphasized and oriented around the making of promises, others are carefully masked and enable tourism providers to earn a ‘stipulation surplus’ through both revenue generation and cost reduction. Promises operate in conjunction with parameters. Fundamental to the commodification and marketing of tourism are the rules that stipulate the rights and obligations of both merchants and consumers.

The marketing of tourism has been seen by a number of authors as an activity underpinned by the four Ps of the marketing mix: product, price, promotion and place (Dolnicar and Ring, 2014; Hsu et al., 2008; McCarthy, 1960; Mounser, 1996). These four Ps, which one would typically associate with front region promises, also provide an ordered approach to understanding the business-related functions performed by the fine print. Rules and restrictions expose a different dimension of the four Ps and the marketing of tourism. Fantasy and excitement promoted within image-rich front regions are tempered by the fine-print stipulations that occupy back regions. Back region detail counterbalances front region aggrandizement. At times, the content of the fine print is thrust into a front region due to the work of journalists. Obscured terms and conditions can assume a degree of conspicuousness when they are scrutinized by the media.

There are, in essence, two sides to each of the four Ps when one examines the marketing of tourism. One side occupies the realm of a highly visible front region and is oriented around capturing the gaze of (prospective) tourists (Kwek and Lee, 2013; Urry and Larsen, 2011). The other side, a back region, reflects the phenomenon whereby sellers shape the difficult-to-see and difficult-to-understand fine print to suit their commercial interests (Bar-Gill, 2012; Ismail and Mills, 2002; Radin, 2013). An alternative conceptualization of the four Ps can be developed that takes into account the purposes served by the fine print. Certain features of a product may be hidden from consumers within the terms and conditions. Furthermore, a refund for the product may be difficult to obtain. Particular prices are widely advertised but there are also hidden fees that consumers must pay. Promotions that are designed to be attractive to prospective tourists may not be as enticing as they initially appear due to the fine print and the presence of a strategically placed asterisk. The places where disputes between tourists and providers must be resolved are determined by the fine print. These places, from the perspective of consumers, may not be convenient forums for dispute resolution. In addition, tourists quite often have to accept the terms and conditions, sometimes without having the time to read them properly, at the place of purchase.

This article is divided into five sections. The first, this introduction, is followed by a review of recent works that addresses commodification and tourism, fine print terms and conditions, the marketing mix and front and back regions. The third section examines the methods used – in particular, the analysis of content within travel magazines, trade journals and newspapers that has discussed, and often scrutinized the use of, the fine print. The fourth section, the research results, considers the way in which the fine print contributes to the selling of tourism by defining parameters that circumscribe commercial transactions. Examining various parameters using the four Ps typically associated with the marketing mix – a framework more closely tied to the promises made by tourism providers – offers a systematized approach to the analysis of the data. Each of the components (product, price, promotion and place) is seen to have connections with the fine print. The fifth and final section of the article discusses the results and offers some conclusions.

Literature review

Commodification, the fine print and the marketing mix

Tourism is interwoven with a complex system of communication (Dann, 1996, 2003; Djafarova and Andersen, 2008; Villarino and Font, 2015). By identifying the motivations and needs of potential consumers, the tourism industry – through its use of promotional language – gently transforms people into actual consumers. A considerable proportion of the rhetoric and images deployed by tourism providers reaches their intended audiences before the trip starts. They shape prior expectations of the travel experience and promise entry for a short duration into an existence far removed from the mundane world (Salazar, 2012; Tresidder, 2010). Tourism marketing and the fostering of fantasy are interwoven. In addition to the words and pictures designed to capture attention by engaging consumers’ senses and desires, the standardized language of contracts has become pervasive within the commercial realm (Bar-Gill, 2012; Ismail and Mills, 2002; Radin, 2013; Wilson, 2007, 2011, 2012). Tourism providers alert consumers to the most attractive aspects of their offers, but complicated terms and conditions at the back of the brochure or that demand to be clicked (‘I accept’) when one makes an internet purchase are usually more inconspicuous. There are two sides to tourism marketing, but only one – overtly communicated depictions and descriptions of tourism-related experiences (Dann, 1996; Djafarova and Andersen, 2008) – has received in-depth study from tourism scholars. The visual dimensions of tourism operate in conjunction with the rules embedded within the tiny type that are not so easily seen or understood.

Studies that address the fine print vary with respect to their focus. Recent research has addressed mass inattention to the content of the fine print (Ben-Shahar and Schneider, 2011) while the design of terms and conditions (Bar-Gill, 2012) and the notion that consumers experience a form of pressured compliance (Radin, 2013) have also been examined. Disregarding the details embedded within the fine print is a common practice (Ben-Shahar and Schneider, 2011). That fine print terms and conditions are so widely used and, at the same time, incomprehensible reduces the extent to which consumers actually consider the small type that accompanies purchases. Skilfully crafted fine print may be seen by consumers but they frequently do not read it. Visibility and comprehension are not synonymous with each other. This widespread blindness to terms and conditions is compatible with the purpose they serve: promoting revenue generation or reducing certain costs. Similar to a marketing strategy, a strategy that speaks to the design of the fine print is part of efforts to ensure corporate profitability (Radin, 2013).

The design of restrictive terms and conditions demonstrates the asymmetry between consumers and vendors. The one-sided nature of the fine print is emphasized by Radin (2013). For her, the fine print should not be viewed as contracts to which consumers consent. Pressured compliance, rather than consent, is experienced by consumers who are confronted by the densely worded contracts presented to them. The requirement that consumers accept the fine print, that it is involuntarily received, is consistent with a political economy perspective. Power is distributed unevenly (Mosedale, 2011); corporations have more clout than individual consumers. Near ubiquitous fine print and its imposition by business enterprises are part of the process of commodification; terms and conditions structure many tourism-related purchases.

Commodification is typically defined as the buying and selling of goods and services in markets (Radin, 1996). It is a phenomenon that has been identified by tourism researchers; tourism is created, packaged and sold as a commodity (Macleod, 2006; Shepherd, 2002; Voigt and Laing, 2010; Watson and Kopachevsky, 1994). An essential element of commodification is marketing; consumers are made aware of opportunities to make purchases and are recipients of messages regarding the benefits of tourism that cannot necessarily be assessed properly at the time of purchase (Reisinger, 2009). Product, price, promotion and place – the four Ps immortalized by marketing scholars – are considered the foundation of the marketing mix (Dolnicar and Ring, 2014; Hsu et al., 2008; McCarthy, 1960; Mounser, 1996). Planning and executing the marketing mix effectively helps to trigger commercial exchanges. The first P of the marketing mix, product, refers to establishing and altering the portfolio of products sold, including the introduction of new as well as modified products and the eradication of unwanted products. Price influences sales and profits; expenditure (spending by consumers paying an agreed-upon price) is required in order to obtain products. The price can be adjusted as part of a marketing strategy. Promotion involves activities aimed at communicating with potential consumers about products that are for sale. Establishing the distribution and sales channels through which products are made available for purchase is related to place – in particular, those nodes along the supply chain where consumers can access the products that are sold. The four Ps of the marketing mix underpin those elements of commodification that are overt and prominent.

In this article, these same four Ps are used to explore a more hidden dimension of commodification: small-type, meticulously worded written text situated at the back of the travel brochure or only visible to the internet user once the web-based transaction is near completion. Fine print terms and conditions, similar to the marketing mix, are part of the mechanics of commodification. Each element of marketing mix plays a role in stimulating the urge to consume and propagating a culture of selling (Cox, 2004). Tourism is one domain where the marketing mix supports the strategic use of the practices related to the attractiveness and appeal of products. Standard form contracts provide the structure that underpins formal, monetary transactions. Small-type terms and conditions demonstrate the influence of vendors in terms of establishing the ground rules – in the tourism industry and more widely – that shapes the purchasing process; the fine print, in the hands of those who draft it, typically becomes a back region vehicle for revenue creation and cost containment. The functions performed by back region fine print can be categorized using the four Ps; marketing is a manifestation of commercial forces but so is the fine print. Contract clauses, for example, indicate that those who make purchases must pay additional fees under certain circumstances and agree to surrender certain rights, such as the right to trial by jury and the right to be compensated for damages suffered. The ability to hide terms and conditions in the fine print, a back region of difficult-to-comprehend contractual arrangements favourable to business interests, creates the potential for advantage taking by tourism providers.

Front and back, seen and unseen

Within many commercial spaces, there is a divide between performative and preparatory venues – a distinction with origins that can be traced back to the dramaturgical theory of symbolic interaction (Goffman, 1959). The front region (the place where one is ‘on stage’) is the domain where the performance must be fully enacted; flight attendants, for instance, smile despite rude behaviour by passengers (Hochschild, 1983). Expressions of exhaustion with the pressures of emotional labour are reserved for the back region where flight attendants can commiserate with each other about the difficult behaviour of passengers. An organization may present a front to consumers by way of its physical plant, its product or service and other items designed to portray a specific image.

The back region can be described as the obverse of the front (Minca, 2010; Tesser, 2012). Back region posturing contradicts the impression fostered in the front region. The back region is where suppressed activities make their appearance. It may not be in the seller’s interest to make the contents of the fine print – disclosed but not prominent – obvious to consumers. For Goffman (1959), back region behaviours must exist in order to make front region behaviours possible. Brochures and internet sites feature back regions (the fine print) and front regions (material intended to persuade and entice consumers) that operate in association with each other and drive tourism-related commerce. Both back and front regions are commonplace in the world of business; some activities are designed to be seen because they would be enticing to consumers while others are masked because they would not be viewed favourably by consumers (Langman, 1991; Pinch, 2010). This practice of separation is, in some ways, fundamental to sustaining the wider system that supports commerce.

Front and back regions correspond to the seen and unseen, respectively, from the perspective of tourists. Tourism has been conceptualized as a prescribed way of seeing (Kwek and Lee, 2013; Urry and Larsen, 2011). Even the most observant tourists may not be in the best position to comprehend the contents of the fine print. It benefits sellers to make some of their activities highly visible (the promises advertised within the fine print) and to shroud others from the gaze of tourists (the back region stipulations). The practice of using the fine print generates and allocates power (Radin, 2013); a stipulation surplus – the product of either additional revenue streams or cost reductions – is the benefit obtained by the drafter. Tourism marketing includes projecting enticing words and images into the front region as well as moderating the scale of the promises made in the back region fine print.

Methods

For this research, the written text of articles from various publications – travel magazines, trade journals and newspapers – was analysed. These articles provide access to the widely disseminated content that addresses the use of fine print terms and conditions. The sources consulted offer access to broader discussions and debates; grievances are publicized, pitfalls and deceptions are exposed by travel writers and the perspectives of prominent individuals from the tourism industry are sometimes printed. On occasion, advice is offered to fledgling and established tourism providers with respect to the fine print. Commentary about the fine print shifts awareness regarding difficult-to-read, restriction-filled text into a widely accessible front region forum. The media helps to make intentionally veiled terms and conditions easier to interpret and surfaces concern about its contents to a (potentially) wide audience. Hidden back region content achieves front region renown.

Twenty-nine articles were identified by searching two databases: ProQuest Newsstand and Hospitality and Tourism Complete. The words ‘fine print’ and ‘terms and conditions’ were used in association with ‘travel’ and ‘tourism’ for the searches. Phrases such as ‘mandated disclosure’ and ‘contract of carriage’ – when combined with ‘travel’ and ‘tourism’ – did not produce results, perhaps because they are too technical for the types of popular and travel industry publications consulted. A decision was made to examine articles that were published within the past two decades – from 1995 to 2015 – so that recent practice and commentary with respect to the use of the fine print would be examined. The articles varied in length, from part of a page to several pages.

There were two reasons for the choice that was made to analyse trade journals, travel magazines and newspaper content. First, print-media sources that criticize the use of the fine print have been described in one scholarly article as ‘trouble stories’ (Ben-Shahar and Schneider, 2011: 679). There is precedent, therefore, for examining such sources within studies that draw attention to the use of the fine print. Tourism researchers have also used the print media as a source of data (Stephenson, 2014; Weaver, 2015). The analysis of articles that appear within the trade and popular press is therefore by no means of unusual. Second, a review of published sources identifies situations where there has been scrutiny of the fine print across different sectors of the tourism industry. Particular sectors of the industry have been associated with certain types of fine-print controversies – for example, the accommodation sector has been criticized for the use of resort fees. Trade journal, magazine and newspaper articles offer a published record of these controversies. These sources document instances where typically hard-to-understand back region content achieves front region exposure.

Reading the articles in an interpretative fashion offers a means of examining media content in a manner that is different from forms of content analysis that typically emphasize counting (Smith, 2010). Close, critical readings of written texts – and Santos (2004) and Voigt and Laing (2010) provide methodological guidance – are open to identifying power structures related to, for example, the workings of commerce. Terms and conditions, similar to marketing materials, form a vast structure with enormous influence. This study contends that the fine print is not random or complete in itself but tied to business imperatives (Radin, 2013). The need for a careful analysis of the functions performed by the fine print increases as commercial organizations become more careful in their strategic deployment of the fine print. Analysing journalistic appraisals of the fine print is, as a result, informed by an appreciation for the power possessed by small-type terms and conditions. This exploration of power and the fine print adopted an approach consistent with a political economy perspective; specifically, the study articulates a political economy of standard form contracts.

Some of the articles used in this research occupy a paradoxical position in that they feature complaints about commercial practices – in this case, the use of the fine print by tourism providers – but also appear within publications that usually promote tourism. The sources consulted for this article occasionally disrupt the divide between front and back regions when discontent about the fine print is made visible within mainstream publications that tout the pleasures of travel. Problems with the status quo are noted, sometimes repeatedly, but dramatic social and economic changes that would alter the current situation are neither proposed nor enacted. The articles analysed therefore reflect their institutional context and broader social formations.

Rather than treating the published sources as a scattered collection of disconnected moments, they were read as content that needed to be evaluated and interpreted. Simply writing about the material featured within magazine, trade journal and newspaper articles considers these texts to contain information that merely needs to be catalogued. However, viewing the published articles as evidence for an argument involves ‘writing from’ the articles instead of ‘writing about’ them. The result (this article) is an interpretation of the roles performed by the fine print within the context of the tourism industry that weaves together examples and explanation.

An initial reading of the articles established knowledge of and familiarity with the content. In one sense, the various articles are a scattered collection of documented incidents, observations and recommendations. An effort was therefore made to interpret the relevant content within the articles so that there was synthesis rather than mere summary. Subsequent readings were undertaken with the aim of providing a mindful interpretation of the texts. One approach that was explored, and then developed more fully once it was seen to be an effective means to structure the research findings, involved using the four Ps typically associated with the marketing mix to develop a conceptual scaffolding that could support an argument and provide explanatory coherence (Table 1). The number of Ps associated with the marketing mix varies; one version of the marketing mix includes four Ps (Mounser, 1996) while a different one includes seven (Dacko, 2004; Hsu et al., 2008; Loo and Leung, 2018).

Table 1.

Examples for product, price, promotion, place and the fine print.

The four Ps	Examples
Product	What, precisely, is the product that is for sale? Consumers sometimes pay for unnecessary product features of which they were initially unaware. Hidden product features (back region phenomena) accompany the visible ones (front region phenomena). Travel products may be sold with unneeded insurance that was not actually sought by consumers (Anthony, 2015; Elliott, 2010; Hobica, 2006) or with insurance that does not actually provide the anticipated protection (Saunders, 2002). Refunds may also be difficult to obtain (Elliott, 2006; Pestronk, 2006; Ricca, 2014; Yeo, 2012).
Price	The price paid by consumers may exceed the price that is conspicuously marketed. Resort fees are sometimes surreptitiously charged by some hotel chains (Elliott, 2007; King, 2013). Fees may also be charged by companies – for example, rental car providers – post-trip (Elliott, 2009). Tempting, up-front prices (occupying a front region) exist in tandem with hidden (back region) fees.
Promotion	Promotions that are designed to attract attention from consumers may not be as enticing as they initially appear. The fine print counterbalances those aspects of promotions that prompt purchasing. Terms and conditions that appear to contradict the broad promises made by promotions have been criticized (Pestronk, 2012); some travel provides have been fined for deceptive practices (Fabey, 2009). Promotions often feature asterisks that make the crucial connection between the conspicuous, front region text and inconspicuous, back region small type (Dennis & Taylor, 2007; Denton, 2008; Eichenbaum, 2008; Elliott, 2005; Ley-Meek, 2009).
Place	Travel products are available for purchase at various places – for example, from websites or at the destination. Forum selection clauses embedded within the fine print indicate means that serious disputes would have to be resolved in courts in a certain place or jurisdiction (Frantz, 1999; Pestronk, 2001). The place may, for example, be the city where the company has its headquarters. Place, with respect to the back region fine print, is also relevant to purchases made when consent is pressured. There are instances when consumers must provide their consent immediately or ‘on the spot’ (Pestronk, 2010). Terms and conditions may be presented at the point of purchase and consumers have no option but to accept if they wish to acquire the product then and there.

It was decided to structure the analysis around the original four Ps (product, price, promotion and place) rather than the seven. The four Ps are emblematic of the ‘make and sell’ approach to marketing that is consistent with the notion that businesses target their consumers for particular actions. The rise of more recently developed marketing concepts – such as experiential marketing (Cuellar et al., 2015; Schmitt, 1999), relationship marketing (Li and Petrick, 2008) and the fine-tuning of the marketing mix to include three additional Ps (Dacko, 2004; Hsu et al., 2008; Loo and Leung, 2018) – features attributes that surpass the composition of the four Ps. A ‘sense and respond’ approach to marketing that is consistent with these more recently developed concepts does not correspond with the one-sided nature of standard form contracts. The four Ps of the marketing mix reflect a broader logic whereby consumers are perceived as targets of action rather than a collection of preferences and tastes to be understood. This logic is also consistent with the use of the fine print.

There is no doubt that multiple readings of various published sources are possible. Excerpts from the data are used to support the conceptual focus of this article. Quoted statements from the articles are used to persuade the reader that the data have been convincingly interpreted. Due to constraints related to word count, only the best examples – as assessed by the author – are included. These examples include some detail and often refer to the activities of specific tourism providers or to the generic practices of businesses operating with a particular sector. Subjective judgements made by the author obviously have implications for the selection of examples and quotations.

Results

Product

Lengthy, immensely complicated terms and conditions sometimes mean that tourists purchase product options they did not need to obtain, such as the collision insurance sold by vehicle rental companies. These companies ‘push incomprehensively dense contracts at drivers and persuade them to buy unnecessary options’ (Elliott, 2010: 16). A product that is portrayed as simple in terms of its composition – reinforced by the use of carefully chosen images and the sparse language within the advertising copy – may have added components described within the miniscule type. Reviewing the fine print may also expose artful omissions. One travel writer notes that ‘[i]t’s all in the fine print. Every day, consumers purchase travel insurance – CSA [Travel Protection] , Access America, and Travel Guard are the three big players in this billion-dollar-plus-a-year industry – thinking they’ll be covered for any eventuality’ (Hobica, 2006: 22). However, ‘[t]ravel insurance policies are loaded with finely honed definitions, legalese, and exclusions’ (Hobica, 2006: 22). Obscured details within the back region, the fine print, accentuate different aspects of a product compared to the impression fostered in the front region.

The experiential nature of the tourism product means that reservations, the arrangement to use a space or facility at a subsequent time, are particularly crucial. Third-party Internet sites used to book hotel rooms have potential pitfalls. One travel writer

checked out [a company’s] user agreement, which few people bother to read; it clearly states that if the hotel is overbooked, there’s a strike, or any other event that it deems beyond its control, all bets are off. Gee, this is worse than the fine print of most airline contracts, which would at least rebook you on the next flight. (Elliott, 2006: 30)

Reserving hotel rooms through third-party internet sites means that consumers are required to abide by ‘densely worded terms and conditions that essentially say, “You got a problem? You’re out of luck”‘ (Elliott, 2006: 30). Believing that there is an unwavering promise, despite the circumstances, to provide a product that is purchased may be unfounded.

The ease of acquiring tourism products coexists with the challenge of obtaining full refunds for those products. A crucial element of tourism products is the refund policy that accompanies them; purchased experiences may not be provided in the manner desired or there is a wish to cancel before consumption. Part of the product, after its purchase, is the (in)ability to void the purchase. In front regions, the ability to purchase products is expressively accentuated while the specific terms of the refund policy are typically relegated to the back region of the promotional materials. Ben Baldaza, the president and CEO of Spirit Airlines – a budget air carrier headquartered in Florida – has indicated that he does not ‘budg[e] on policies that might be unpopular with travellers who do not read the fine print’ (Yeo, 2012: 29). For Baldaza, ‘[n]on-refundable means non-refundable. We tend to be more strict on that than most airlines’ (Yeo, 2012: 29). Although more extreme than other commercial enterprises, the example of Spirit Airlines demonstrates that refunds are not freely provided. It has been reported that refund policies are tightly enforced within particular sectors of the tourism industry: ‘[t]our companies and cruise lines have strict refund policies. In most cases, you’ll receive little or no refund if you cancel your trip within a month or two of the departure date’ (Saunders, 2002: 70). The underlying commercial argument for not always permitting refunds is that a relaxed policy in this regard would be too costly to the organization.

Price

Particular prices are widely advertised by tourism providers. Tourists expect to pay a price for commodified experiences. The fine print, however, sometimes acts as a mechanism to extract more money from consumers. A range of hidden fees are imposed by contracts that tourists may not fully consider when they make their purchase decisions (Ayres and Nalebuff, 2003). The perceived price of tourism products may be reduced by masking additional charges in various ways. Particular prices may be conspicuously displayed within the front regions of promotional materials but some fees may be purposefully obscured. By using certain terms and conditions, sellers can realize enhanced gains from added fees. Extra revenue may be obtained from tourists who are not especially attentive with respect to the content of the fine print.

Fine print may disguise the true and complete cost of a purchase.

US hotel guests who are looking only at the top-line room rates without perusing the bottom-line fine print’ may be surprised by ‘the ever-expanding list of surcharges, ranging from Internet and phone fees to room service and minibar line items to baggage-holding fees. (King, 2013: 52)

Hidden expenses are particularly prevalent ‘in Las Vegas, where hotels have been gradually instituting resort fees since the crash of 2008. Now, properties along the Strip regularly charge between $15 and $25 a night in resort fees’ (King, 2013: 52). It is estimated that these ‘resort fees can generate margins of between 80% and 90%’ (King, 2013: 52). Initially tempted by an attractive and conspicuously presented price, tourists sometimes end up paying more money for a product than they originally anticipated.

The timing of commercial transactions, especially when payment occurs, can be stipulated by the fine print. Travellers are typically accustomed to making payments prior to the trip or at the destination. However, additional fees assessed post-trip concern ‘an increasing number of travelers who are being charged for everything from hotel minibar drinks to cruise excursions…weeks – and sometimes months – after their trips’ (Elliott, 2009: 12). The number of these fees at hotels in the United States – termed ‘late charges’ – ‘has doubled in the last year, from one in every 200 bills to a full one percent of all bills’ (Elliott, 2009: 13). There are also ‘loophole[s] in [credit card] agreement[s]’ that enable post-trip fees to be charged; ‘Visa…allows hotels up to three months to charge for any incidentals such as food, beverages or taxes. It gives car rental companies the same amount of time to charge for extras such as fuel and insurance’ (Elliott, 2009: 13). Various fees may be extracted from consumers clandestinely because ‘[n]otification of late charges is lax, and often nonexistent’ (Elliott, 2009: 16). The ability to question or challenge fees assessed after the trip may be impaired once the tourist returns home.

Promotion

Promotions signal to consumers the most attractive aspects of products and serve as vehicles for the communication of promises. Promises, however, are accompanied by parameters. In a column that appeared in a trade journal devoted to theme parks, an attorney provided some advice related to the content of the fine print that should be incorporated into promotional materials. ‘[P]romotional giveaways’, such as free plush toys, should include fine print that incorporates phrases such as ‘one per customer’ and ‘while supplies last’ (Eichenbaum, 2008: 8). The fine print could also note that ‘substitutions may be made for the advertised item’ and that tourism providers ‘reserve the right to give a different item instead’ (Eichenbaum, 2008: 8). Carefully drafted terms and conditions are ‘a necessity to not only keep patrons happy but to protect your park from turning a revenue-generating promotion into a costly mistake’ (Eichenbaum, 2008: 8). Synchronizing back region fine print and front region promotional statements is viewed as highly desirable in this instance.

Promotions may be successful due to the stipulations that underpin them but they also attract criticism. From the perspective of consumers or travel writers, tourism providers may promise one product featured in an advertisement and then quite a different one is described in the terms and conditions. The front and back regions are seen as disconnected when overtly promoted promises contradict the fine print. A complaint submitted by a cruise passenger to the magazine Cruise Travel indicates that ‘[w]hen you receive a cruise brochure announcing prices that seem out of line, read the fine print and directly question the cruise line about the brochure’ (Denton, 2008: 8). The nature of a particular promotion developed by a cruise-ship company meant that the complainant would ‘not cruise with this line ever again’ (Denton, 2008: 8). Readers are warned that ‘[i]f you get an offer for a cruise special that looks too good to be true, read the small print and don’t get your hopes up’ (Denton, 2008: 8). Promises that are seen to be contradicted by printed stipulations have the potential to create discontent among consumers. However, a disjuncture between promises and parameters may still prove to be profitable. Consumers may be tempted by promises that are not actually kept by tourism providers; commercial transactions may still take place despite the inconsistencies between the promotional offer and (unread) fine print.

Promotional materials and their relationship with the fine print have sometimes violated established regulations. In the United States, the Department of Transportation (DOT) fined United Airlines $75,000 in 2009 when it

advertised a number of fares on the ‘Special Deals' section of its website that did not contain appropriate notice of taxes and fees that were excluded from the advertised fare at the first point in which the fares were displayed. (Fabey, 2009: 11)

It was noted that the air carrier did not

provide clear and conspicuous notice that the fares advertised required a roundtrip purchase. Instead, these fares were followed by a double asterisk that referred the reader to fine print below the group of advertised fares that stated, ‘Each-way fares based on required roundtrip purchase, plus taxes/fees’. United cooperated with the DOT and contended that in all cases only appropriately separated fees were excluded from the fares, and such fees were clearly explained one click away from the advertisement through a fare ‘details’ link in combination with other details surrounding the fares. (Fabey, 2009: 11)

Words and images designed to capture attention and that are featured within front region promotional spaces do not possess the particulars that are contained within the back region fine print. Reputational harm may be done to companies that violate norms or rules with respect to the balance between promises and parameters. Efforts to achieve a sales benefit require the deft oversight of the threshold between the back region (parameters) and front region (promises), one that is occasionally poorly managed. Companies that seek to profit from perceived incongruities between promises and parameters, and some may be quite successful with such endeavours, run the risk of being publicly embarrassed by their actions or punished.

Place

An extraordinary volume of choices is available to consumers in terms of places to visit. Places are transformed into saleable commodities through the use of conspicuously presented words and images in marketing materials (Edelheim, 2007; Hall, 1997). In addition, tourism products can be purchased from a range of places – for example, the home countries of tourists as well as the destinations they visit. With respect to place and the marketing mix, the front region is a domain associated with possibilities and the ability to access tourism products in a variety of places. Back region terms and conditions introduce restrictions. For instance, they inhibit consumers’ access to particular judicial forums; serious disputes can only be resolved in certain places mentioned in the fine print (Ismail and Mills, 2002).

Places have ties to promises that are made in the front region and parameters – specifically, stipulations with respect to where one can pursue serious grievances – that reside in the back region. When a travel writer reviews the fine print provided by Radisson Seven Seas Cruises to passengers – ‘two 8.5-by-11-inch pages with type so tiny that it cannot be read unless you put your face within three inches of the page’ – he notes that ‘[i]f you sue the cruise line, you may file suit only in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and if the line sues you, you agree to be sued there’ (Pestronk, 2001: 45). Other cruise-ship companies choose Miami ‘where most have their headquarters’ (Frantz, 1999: 36). As a result, ‘a passenger who boards a cruise in California and later decides to sue must do so in Miami, even if the passenger never got within 2,000 miles of Miami’ (Frantz, 1999: 36). Provisions that define the place(s) where serious complaints can be pursued may increase the expected costs of seeking compensation from a tourism provider, thus discouraging such activity. For tourism providers, fewer serious complaints reduce the costs associated with formal legal proceedings and making restitution.

Place is also significant when one considers where consumers sign contracts which feature the fine print. Tourists may encounter fine print immediately prior to the completion of an in-person commercial transaction. It is difficult to read and absorb the contents of

standard-form contracts that you are expected to sign while standing at a car rental counter or before you can participate in certain resort activities such as scuba diving or boat rental. Although these contracts are easy to find, there is really no time or place to read and understand them. (Pestronk, 2010: 26)

Consent may not be coerced but the circumstances by which it is obtained are not necessarily conducive to complete comprehension.

The spatially dispersed nature of tourism distribution – indeed, that tourism products can be purchased in many different places is widely promoted – stands in contrast to the place-based restrictions imposed by the fine print with respect to dispute resolution. Place is associated with possibilities in the front region and constraints in the back region. Parameters established within the back region determine where serious disagreements are resolved. Forum determination (in other words, choice of place) influences the volume of post-purchase problems tourism providers must formally address. Convenience for consumers – namely, facilitating their ability to buy – is at the forefront of the ‘place’ component of the marketing mix. The concerns of tourism providers, rather than consumers, are central to place-related stipulations incorporated into the fine print.

Place also has implications for the visual consumption of the fine print immediately prior to purchase. The relative immediacy of certain commercial transactions heightens the tediousness of the fine print. There are occasions when (and where) consenting to the fine print may be perceived as a nuisance. That some back region parameters are presented to tourists so close to the moment and place of consumption may also convey a sense that fine print terms and conditions are insignificant and unworthy of careful attention. In order to immerse themselves within the front region experiences created by the tourism industry, consumers may consent to a standard form contract at the point of purchase without reading the minute details.

Conclusions

The fine print is a heretofore unexamined aspect of commodification within the tourism industry. Terms and conditions are components of the cost minimization and revenue maximization schemes used by companies. As the tourism industry has grown and modern business organizations have been established with a tourism-related focus, promotional efforts and image-making endeavours have become more sophisticated. Marketing specialists, quite often guided by the four Ps of the marketing mix, have played a part in producing the fantasy realm of tourism and have helped to bolster the financial fortunes of their employers (Edelheim, 2007; Mounser, 1996). The use of fine print terms and conditions can also be tied to the general course of business history within the tourism industry. Crafting and enforcing certain rules via the fine print have been made possible by organizations that have achieved the capacity to distribute power in a manner that benefits them. The mass availability of tourism as a purchasable commodity and the organizations that have made this form of tourism possible reflect, in part, the influence of the mass-contract era within the realm of commerce and consumption more broadly (Bar-Gill, 2012; Radin, 2013). With the rise of mass tourism, there has been a concomitant proliferation of fine print that dictates the nature of commercial transactions; mass tourism would not be possible without the mass acceptance of fine print. Various parameters defined by the nearly hidden fine print are meant to temper the advertised promises clearly visible to (prospective) tourists.

The four Ps associated with the marketing mix, when used as vehicles to analyse the fine print, demonstrate commercial reasons for the use of terms and conditions and testify to the status of tourism as a saleable commodity. It pays to have parameters; companies collect a stipulation surplus through the adroit use of seller-protective fine print. A twofold approach to selling tourism would appear to be common. Tantalizing, upfront inducements are accompanied by deferred or delayed costs: Products do not have the characteristics they are initially thought to have, a range of hidden fees are stealthily charged during or after consumption that add to the price, promotions are seen to have caveats subsequent to the purchase and place-based stipulations govern the settlement of disputes once a commercial relationship is under way.

Producing promises and the drive to accumulate a stipulation surplus pull in opposite directions; attempts to offer one product featured in an advertisement and then quite a different one in the fine print, although they do occur, are devious and represent a risky business practice. Preparing fine print that contains certain terms and conditions is a profitable strategy only if it can be done in a way that does not undermine the seller’s ability to attract (repeat) customers. Serious sanctions, including fines for inaccurate promotions, potentially await those tourism providers whose fine print does not match the advertised promises. Similar to other tourism scholars who have written about front and back regions (Minca, 2010; Tesser, 2012; Yasuda, 2013), the two realms – in this case, the highly visible marketing appeals and the difficult-to-see fine print – are interwoven. Front and back regions may foster different impressions of a tourism experience but both domains must be principally compatible with each other as they are constituent parts of a working, integrated system that sustains and intensifies the making and marketing of tourism. Back region content is occasionally thrust into the front region, thus attracting negative publicity. The connection between the two types of regions is therefore relational and dynamic.

This study has practical implications. For business owners in the tourism industry, crafting customized fine print may be compatible with attempts to increase revenue. The ability that businesses currently have with respect to the collection and analysis of enormous volumes of information about the behaviour of consumers (Garrigos-Simon et al., 2015) means that it is possible to create more targeted standard form contracts. Tourism providers understand their consumers as never before. Back region fine print could be incorporated into front region marketing strategies that promote a variety of contracts. In principle, consumers could identify the types of fine print that best match their own preferences. One hazard associated with such a practice is that consumers – if they do not read the fine print (carefully) – can become confused by the array of options. However, despite this prospective hazard, there is the potential for some businesses to develop targeted fine print strategies that exploit certain behavioural tendencies in order to extract a surplus.

Businesses – and even destination managers, where applicable – could create strategies that straddle the boundary between front region marketing strategies and back region fine print. There is scope to promote the omission of certain terms and conditions, particularly those deemed to be unfavourable to consumers, from standard form contracts. For example, hotels and air carriers could advertise ‘no asterisk’ prices to consumers; vehicle rental firms could promise not to sell insurance policies to drivers that duplicate the insurance they already possess. Destination managers could try to coordinate efforts among accommodation providers within a city or region with respect to the assessment of extra charges in the form of resort fees. A coordinated effort to discourage use of these fees could be organized. Such an effort could have reputational benefits for the destination.

There is scope for more research that explores the fine print within a tourism context. Opportunities exist for scholarship that offers a historical perspective. An analysis of the back pages of past and present brochures could demonstrate the ways in which the fine print has evolved. The evolution of the fine print potentially offers a means to understand, if only partially, the development of commercial relations within the tourism industry. Research could also explore the relationship between the fine print and the tourist gaze in more depth. There are gradations of gazing (Lemelin, 2006) in relation to the fine print: Glancing at it or giving it the once-over is different from going over it attentively. Examining the fine differences among the gradations of gazing is potentially a worthy exercise.

At precisely the time when marketers are paying more attention to changing preferences and consumers are seen to be more empowered (Elliott-White and Finn, 1998; Mackellar, 2006), understanding the perceptions consumers have of the fine print – more generally and with respect to particular terms and conditions – could be of interest to academics and practitioners. Broad impressions of the fine print held by consumers as well as specific interpretations of the content they actually read deserve attention. Although there are rarely beneficial terms for tourists buried within the fine print, many consumers receive price reductions that various terms and conditions make possible. Pleasure travellers often choose to purchase non-refundable air travel rather than pay for more expensive tickets that enable them to alter their reservations. They opt for harsh restrictions in order to reap the benefit of the price reductions that accompany such strict rules. Business travellers who value the option of changing their travel arrangements usually end up paying a premium for it. Purchasing tourism necessarily requires consumers to accept certain terms and conditions but different market segments may perceive the fine print quite differently. Some scholars may choose to initiate research that has a more critical view of the fine print and argue that it disempowers consumers as well as reflects a numbness to their individual interests at the same time that perceptions of their influence, specifically with respect to marketing and product development, have increased.

There may be a desire to undertake research that explores the rights of travel consumers. Tourism researchers have examined the meanings consumers derive from their experiences but not their rights – or the removal of their rights – when they purchase travel products. Travel promises opportunities to assert independence and achieve freedom but it simultaneously binds people to prohibitive terms and conditions developed by tourism providers. Do tourists necessarily care about the removal of certain rights? Is it only tourists who have already been denied remedy or recourse of some description who notice?

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Adam Weaver

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