Sector requires compensation for twenty years of “unfair competition” caused by Booking clause that prevented establishments from offering lower rates on their own websites. Ten thousand hotels have already joined the action.
More than 10,000 hotels in Europe have joined a collective action against Booking, claiming to have been harmed by the online lodging reserves platform.
The objective is to obtain compensation for damage suffered between 2004 and 2024, as a result of the so -called BOOKING “BEST PRICE” CLAUSEwhich prevented, until last year, hotels from offering their own bedroom sites at prices lower than those announced at Booking.com.
The initiative has the support of the Confederation of Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes of Europe (Hotrec) and 30 national associations.
BOOKING, based in the Netherlands, used this clause for two decades to discourage customers to discover accommodation on its platform and later make the reservation directly on the hotel website.
“Abusive practices”
Now, the lawsuit, which will be filed by the sector with a court in Amsterdam, is based on a decision of the European Union Court of September 2024, which considered the best price clauses illegal.
The court determined at the time that online platforms could operate without imposing such restrictions on partner hotels. Booking.com eliminated the clause in 2024 as a consequence of the European Union’s digital market law.
“European hoteliers have been suffering from unfair conditions and excessive costs”Said Hotrec president Alexandros Vassilikos.“ This joint initiative sends a clear message: abusive practices in the digital market will not be tolerated by the European hotel sector. ”
According to a report by the DPA news agency, Booking.com said it had not received any official notification from the lawsuit. It also rejected the allegations of hotel associations and legal grounds based on the decision of the European Court.
Increasing dependence
The tension between the European hotel sector and the reserve management platforms is old, with representatives of hotels to talk about “Unfair competition”.
According to a study of last year, published by Hotrec in partnership with a Swiss University, the Booking holds 70% of the online travel agencies market. These platforms are responsible for a significant part of the reserves, especially in small hotels, with less than 20 rooms.
The study was based on 3,000 hotels in 2023, in the context of the recovery of the sector after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Reservations made directly with hotels continue, however, to be the main sales channel, representing 51% of the daily rates sold. However, the authors of the study argue that this percentage has been falling, with a descent of about seven percentage points between 2013 and 2023. In the same period, the share of online agencies in the hotel market as a whole has increased.
According to Hotrec, the collective action against Booking could receive new adherents by the end of the month.
