Booking.com contract terms relating to pricing have been a source of complaint for hotels for over two decades. However, their long-running dispute is now centered on financial compensation. The hotels’ efforts to get damages are gaining momentum.
Last week, many trade groups said that they supported legal claims against Booking.com over its “rate parity clauses”. These clauses prevented hotels offering lower prices on their own website or other platforms than those charged by Booking.com.
The Amsterdam-based online travel company has long defended these clauses, saying they are necessary for its business model. However, it removed them in Europe last year.
The long-simmering conflict is now at an end.
What’s new
Last week, 26 hotel associations from across Europe came together for the first-time to claim that Booking.com’s rate parity clauses violated EU competition law and stifled competitiveness between 2004 and 2024. They also sought damages for hotels in Europe affected by this.
Booking Holdings’ parent company Booking.com has always denied wrongdoing.
Booking.com was branded a “ga” by the European Commission in 2024.
