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Spain fines Booking.com €413 Million for unfair practices
By Trelawney Bresic •
Updated: 31 Jul 2024 • 13:29 • 1 minute read
Spain s National Market and Competition Commission (CNMC) has issued Booking.com with a hefty €413 million fine for abusing its dominant position in the online travel agency (OTA) market. The company is accused of unfair commercial practices and stifling competition.
Booking.com allegedly forced hotels to offer their rooms at the lowest price on their platform, while reserving the right to undercut those prices themselves. Additionally, disputes were subject to Dutch law and courts, putting Spanish hotels at a disadvantage.
Booking.com manipulated hotels
The investigation revealed that Booking.com used tactics that discouraged hotels from using other online travel agencies. This included favouring hotels in search results based on their total Booking.com bookings and prioritising hotels in loyalty programs based on their profitability for Booking.com, not necessarily for the hotels themselves.
These practices, according to the CNMC, limited hotels ability to offer competitive prices on their own websites and prevented other OTAs from gaining a foothold in the market. This ultimately hurts consumers who may miss out on better deals.
A strong message to all online platforms
The fine, which breaks down to €206.62 million for each violation, sends a strong message to Booking.com and other dominant online platforms. The CNMC s ruling aims to create a fairer marketplace where hotels can freely offer competitive rates and consumers have access to a wider range of travel booking options.
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Written by
Trelawney Bresic
Trelawney is a journalist and screenwriter. She began her career at the Euro Weekly News twenty years ago and is passionate about honest and compelling journalism. If you have a news story, don’t hestitate to get in touch at [email protected]
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