The booking site Booking.com is being sued by over 10,000 European hotels who claim that the platform has used its market dominance to distort competition for 20 years, writes The Guardian.
The lawsuit is being driven by the industry body Hotrec, which represents hotels and restaurants in the EU. 30 national hotel associations, including the UK, support the process.
Hotrec accuses Booking.com of using illegal "best price" clauses to pressure hotels not to offer lower prices on other platforms or their own sites, and of blocking "free-rider" bookings, where customers find hotels on Booking.com but book directly.
The lawsuit covers the years 2004–2024, when the clauses were removed to comply with the EU Digital Markets Act. This follows a court decision in 2024 that ruled that the clauses were in breach of competition law.
Hotrec chairman Alexandros Vassilikos says that European hotels have ”long suffered from unfair conditions and high costs” and demands correction.
Booking.com calls the allegations ”false and misleading” and says the clauses promoted competition. A survey shows that 74% of hotels believe the collaboration has increased their profitability. But critical industry representatives say the company’s methods have been depleting.
A study shows that Booking Holding, which is based in the Netherlands, controlled 71 percent of the European market in 2024, up from 68.4 percent in 2019. The legal negotiations are expected to be lengthy and difficult, but experts see it as ”a revolt by hotels” against the platform’s dominance.
Source: DI.SE
