Travel, hospitality & leisure
The total price, the refund and the reply have to hold.
Online travel agencies, tour operators, destination bodies and journey operators, where the traveller compares everything and forgives little. We build booking experiences with honest prices and policies, itinerary and service journeys that work on the move, and destination brands that make a place worth the trip.
Where the rules biteMap of all forty-one industries
What is shifting
Refund rules tightened, dark patterns were named, and assistants started planning trips. Each shift names what it demands, with a fact you can check.
It demandsBooking flows that show cancellation and refund terms clearly, and process them as the rules now require.
SignalSince 26 March 2026, DGCA’s refund rules give flyers 48 hours after booking to cancel or change free, except close to departure; agent and portal refunds are due in 14 working days.
It demandsTotals from the first screen, scarcity messages that are true, and no pre-ticked add-ons.
SignalThe CCPA’s 2023 dark-patterns guidelines name drip pricing, false urgency and basket sneaking as unfair trade practices.
It demandsItineraries, changes and help in chat and app, ending with a person when needed — usable by everyone.
SignalThe EU Accessibility Act has covered booking websites, apps and e-tickets for passenger transport sold in the EU since 28 June 2025.
It demandsPackage pages and contracts that give EU travellers the information and protection they are owed.
SignalUnder the EU Package Travel Directive, organisers give standard pre-contract information and protect travellers against their own insolvency.
The rulebook
The e-commerce and dark-pattern rules, the aviation refund requirements, package-travel law for EU travellers, payments and data, read for a booking business. Your counsel keeps sign-off.
Frameworks we build to
Frameworks we design and build to — not a claim of certification.
Shapes most of the work
Central Consumer Protection Authority
Names practices such as drip pricing, false urgency, basket sneaking and confirm-shaming — thirteen in all — as unfair trade practices.
We designEvery booking step is audited against all thirteen patterns before launch.
CCPA · Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 30 November 2023 Official text: CCPA dark-patterns guidelines, 2023
Shapes most of the work
Department of Consumer Affairs
Online travel platforms show who the seller is, the total price with its breakdown, cancellation and refund terms, and a grievance officer.
We designProduct and checkout templates carry the required fields by design.
Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 Official text: Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020
Directorate General of Civil Aviation
Card refunds within seven days of cancellation; refunds of agent and portal bookings within 14 working days; a 48-hour window after booking to cancel or change without extra charges, except close to departure.
We designBooking and change flows show the window and the refund route for each fare.
DGCA · Civil Aviation Requirements on refund of airline tickets, revised 24 February 2026 (in force 26 March 2026)
European Union
Packages sold to travellers in the EU need standard pre-contract information, an organiser liable for performance, and protection against the organiser’s insolvency.
We designPackage pages and confirmations carry the standard information for EU travellers.
Directive (EU) 2015/2302 Official text: EU Package Travel Directive
Shapes most of the work
PCI Security Standards Council
Card-data security, including the controls on scripts running on payment pages (6.4.3) and tamper detection (11.6.1), in force since 31 March 2025.
We designPayment pages ship with a script inventory and change detection.
PCI SSC · PCI DSS v4.0.1 Official text: PCI DSS v4.0.1
Shapes most of the work
Government of India · European Union
Traveller data from many markets, collected with purpose-bound consent and withdrawal as easy as consent.
We designTraveller profiles hold consent per purpose, and marketing never sees what the traveller did not agree to.
DPDP Act, 2023 · Regulation (EU) 2016/679 Official text: DPDP Act, 2023 and GDPR
Often shapes the work
W3C · European Union
WCAG 2.2 AA as the floor; since 28 June 2025 the EU Accessibility Act covers e-commerce and the booking websites, apps and e-tickets of passenger transport sold in the EU.
We designDate pickers, seat maps and payment steps are tested with assistive technology.
W3C WCAG 2.2 · Directive (EU) 2019/882 Official text: WCAG 2.2 AA and the European Accessibility Act
Often shapes the work
European Union
From 2 August 2026, people are told when they are dealing with an AI system — such as a travel assistant — unless it is obvious.
We designAssistants say they are AI and hand over to a person on request.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 · Article 50 Official text: EU AI Act · Article 50
Compiled 3 October 2026. Our reading of typical programmes, not legal advice. Rules change; your counsel confirms how each one applies to you.
Challenges
The problems that surface in nearly every travel & tourism programme: the ones customers feel, and the ones teams carry.
Fares, fees and taxes shown together from the first screen.
Cancellations, changes and refunds handled where the booking was made.
Updates and support that reach the traveller wherever they are.
What we build
A typical programme here draws on each discipline in this mix. Every line names what it builds for the industry and links to the capability that does the work.
Booking platforms, supplier integrations and fast, accessible sites and apps.
Search, booking and change journeys that beat the comparison site on clarity and speed.
Destination and operator brands that make a place, and a way of travelling, worth choosing.
Destination content and campaigns produced for every season and market.
Itinerary and service assistants that answer from live inventory and policy.
Traveller profiles, pre-trip and in-trip messaging, and loyalty on one consented record.
Programmes
The way in books your products the way travellers do — on your site, on comparison sites and through assistants — and ranks the gaps in price clarity, speed and policy.
The way in
We book your products the way travellers do and test every step against the dark-pattern and e-commerce rules.
What it hands over
02Milestone · 4–8 months
Search, checkout and self-service changes rebuilt around all-in prices, integrated with your inventory and payment systems.
MovesContacts per booking
Services: End-to-end UX & UI design · Website · System integration
Enquire about Booking and self-service rebuild03Milestone · 3–6 months
One consented traveller profile, with the messages that come before, during and after a trip.
MovesRepeat booking rate
Services: Customer data & identity foundation · Lifecycle journey build · Loyalty strategy & programme design
Enquire about Traveller lifecycle and loyalty04Project · 8–12 weeks
A destination positioning, identity and content plan that guides visitors beyond the famous sights.
MovesEngaged visits to destination content
Services: Brand foundation & positioning · Logo & identity system · Content strategy & editorial plan
Enquire about Destination brand and contentHow success is measured
The number we moveSearch-to-booking conversion
AI, under the rules
Every use case runs inside a guardrail, with a person approving what matters and a log a supervisor could read.
Use case 01
Measured byAssisted booking conversion
Tested forOWASP LLM01 · Prompt injection
Ships only with its evaluation set, its guardrail and an owner
Use case 02
Measured byRefunds completed within the required time
Tested forOWASP LLM05 · Improper output handling
Ships only with its evaluation set, its guardrail and an owner
Use case 03
Measured byAccuracy complaints per guide
Tested forOWASP LLM09 · Misinformation
Ships only with its evaluation set, its guardrail and an owner
Work and insights
We publish travel & tourism projects only once a client signs off the write-up. Meanwhile, here is the reading that applies.
A typical programme · composite
A tour operator rebuilt its booking flow with all-in prices from the first screen and self-service changes, so travellers stopped calling to ask what they would actually pay.
Anonymised and illustrative: the shape a programme takes, never a named client.
Questions
Something else on your mind? Ask us directly
Both: online agencies, tour and journey operators, and the boards and bodies that market destinations. The rules differ — destinations rarely take payments — and so does the work.
Yes: airline, hotel and activity inventory through the distribution systems, channel managers or direct APIs you already use.
We audit every booking step against all thirteen patterns and design totals, scarcity messages and add-ons so they are honest from the first screen.
No. It handles simple searches and changes, says it is an AI, and hands complex trips and exceptions to people.
Keep exploring
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Tell us what you’re building. We’ll answer straight.
01About 2 minutes
You get A reply from a lead, not a sales queue
02About 8 minutesMost useful
You get Options and a first scope after one call
03About 15 minutes
You get Receipt confirmed and a named bid lead
Every engagement starts with a written scope and a quote agreed before work begins. How each package is priced
