Hotels now free to offer better prices than the Booking platform in the European Union

“Booking will not have the right to increase commission rates or delist offers” from companies which offer different prices on another site, the European Commission assured Thursday.

Hotels listed by Booking in Europe are now free to offer better rates on their own website or on other channels than those displayed on the Dutch reservation platform, the European Commission announced on Thursday, November 14. Booking was named in May as one of the few “tech” giants subject in the EU to new, stricter competition rules, alongside Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft, under the new Digital Markets Regulation (DMA). The entry into force of the obligations for Booking takes place this Thursday.

Concretely, this means that hotels, car rental companies and other tourist service providers, “can now offer different prices and conditions (and possibly better) on their own website or other channels than on Booking.com”explained the Commission.

“Booking will not have the right to increase commission rates or delist offers” companies that offer different prices on another site, she said. “This means that other platforms and service providers will be able to [les] compete on fairer terms, stimulating innovation and reducing prices”assures the European executive. In addition, hotels and other tourist services will have access “in real time and continuously” to the data that they and their customers generate through the use of Booking.

The Dutch platform reacted, ensuring that, from now on, it “meets the requirements of the Digital Markets Act”. This “compliance” intervened, she declares, following “consultations with the European Commission and stakeholders”.