Collective offensive against Booking.com

The class action will be filed at the end of July in the Netherlands by a specialized foundation, and is based on European competition law. All hotels headquartered in a European country (including outside the EU) and listed on the Booking.com between 2006 and 2024 are authorized to participate. The aim is to obtain financial compensation for the establishments. The focus is on the controversial parity clauses: for years, these obliged accommodation establishments not to offer better prices or conditions on any other platform, even on their own website, only on Booking.com. Back in 2015, the Competition Commission ruled that the use of certain parity clauses distorted competition in Switzerland. However, it took another seven years before all the clauses were prohibited by law in Switzerland. During this period, HotellerieSuisse and GastroSuisse were resolutely committed to defending the interests of the industry within a broad alliance. “HotellerieSuisse welcomes this legal initiative and invites the establishments concerned to consider taking part,” says Nicole Brändle, Director of HôtellerieSuisse.