More than 10,000 hotels file lawsuits against Booking.com

Europe’s hotel industry is taking Booking.com to court. More than 10,000 hotels are taking part in a class action lawsuit against the travel portal to claim compensation for years of forced price fixing, Report informs referring to Swissinfo.ch.

The background to this is a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in autumn 2024, which ruled that so-called best price clauses violate antitrust law. These clauses had prevented hotels from offering their rooms more cheaply outside of the platform – for example on their own website. The aim was to prevent so-called free-rider bookings.

However, the ECJ judges ruled that platforms such as Booking.com can exist economically without such requirements. It made little difference to travellers: the online platform had abolished the clauses in the European Economic Area due to the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) 2024.

“European hoteliers have long suffered from unfair conditions and excessive costs,” said the President of the European hotel alliance Hotrec, Alexandros Vassilikos. The class action therefore sends a clear message: “Abusive practices in the digital market will not be tolerated by the hotel industry in Europe.” The aim is to obtain compensation for the period from 2004 to 2024.

The lawsuit is being heard before a Dutch court – the travel portal’s headquarters are in Amsterdam – and is being coordinated by the Hotel Claims Alliance. It is supported by Hotrec and more than 30 national hotel associations, including Hotelleriesuisse. “Now is the time to stand up together and demand redress,” says Alessandro Nucara, Director General of the Italian association Federalberghi. Due to the great response, the registration deadline has been extended to August 29.

Despite criticism, Booking.com remains indispensable for many hotels. They reach a large number of potential guests via the platform. According to a study by Hotrec and the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland Valais, the market share of the parent company Booking Holdings was 71% across Europe in 2023.