Una legal avalanche is breaking down on Booking.com, the digital giant for hotel booking in Europe: Thousands of European hoteliers have decided to drag the platform in courtasking behind millions of euros of commissions deemed illegitimate. The reason? For over twenty years Booking, in exchange for the visibility offered to the structures, would have imposed commissions on reservations of up to 30% of the price of the room, preventing them from offering lower rates elsewhere, even on their sites.
The class action of hoteliers against Booking.com
To trigger the battle of hoteliers, one Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union who declared these illegitimate practices. Strong of this verdict, the trade associations, including Federalberghi and Hottc, the European Confederation of the National Associations of Hospitality, have decided to launch a historical class action, asking for a refund of the commissions paid From 2004 to 2024.
From opportunities to dependence
To understand the story, you have to return a little back: The growth of Booking.com was, in fact, for many hoteliers, a revolution: international visibility, increase in reservations, ease of use. Over the yearshowever,, The system began to be perceived as more and more unbalanced. According to the hotels, the platform would have stopped being a simple showcase and turned into a closed ecosystem, with rigid rules and less and less negotiable conditions.
Because hotels cannot offer rooms at lower prices
And, the fulcrum of the dispute, They would be the so -called Parity Rate clauseswhich prevent hotels from offering on their official website, rooms at lower prices compared to those visible on Booking.com.
The main European hoteliers’ associations have launched a class action against Booking.com, accusing it of having imposed anticoncortenial clauses for years (Getty)
The twist: the EU Court of Justice Boccia the Parity Rate
To mark the turning point, it was the sentence of the Court of Justice of the European Union. A historical decision, which arrived precisely following the reports presented by various associations in the sector, which He reopened the speech on the legitimacy of Booking commercial practices. For hoteliers, that verdict was the definitive fuse: if those conditions were incorrect, then the payments made under their validity must also be reconsidered.
Class action, how collective legal action works
In Italy, where Booking.com Intermediate about 40% of the hot turnover, Over 30,000 hotel structures are potentially involved. According to Alessandro Nucara, general manager of Federalberghithe interest is already very high, with thousands of memberships arrived and a deadline set at 31 July to submit an application. Just provide the invoices of the commissions paid over the years: the rest will be the legal machine.
“Inque conditions, inflated costs”: the HotTec report
The President of Hottc, Alexandros Vassilikos, defined the action a call to justice. The hoteliers, he said, “have endured unbalanced clauses and unsustainable costs for too long. It is necessary to point out that even digital giants cannot act undisturbed, especially when they affect a whole sector so heavily ». Booking.com, for its part, rejects all charges: in an official note he declared that the sentence does not automatically imply a right to compensation e has anticipated the intention to defend itself in judicial sitecontesting the thesis of the anti -concurrence effects.
Growth commissions, on the decline contractual power
One of the most critical points for hotels would be just The growing weight of the commissionthe, a rewarding system that, however, penalizes those who cannot afford to pay more And that would have created a real commercial dependence for many structures. In this context, the possibility of asking for compensation for the sums paid in past years, the operators say, represents an attempt to rebalance the relationship of strength.
Equality of rules also for the extralberghiero: Airbnb
Parallel to the booking issue, Albergatori denounce unfair competition in the extralberghiero sector, Starting with Airbnb. The point would not be only the taxation that, according to them, remains not very transparent, but also the safety and quality of the offer.
Only in Italy, according to the data provided by Federalberghi, Over 50,000 structures without identification code (Cin) would appear on Airbnb. This means the absence of controls, minimum unpaid standards, but still visibility in the digital market. The result is an image damage for the entire system of Italian hospitality.
Oltre Booking.com: a reflection on the future of reception
The class action against Booking represents a significant test for the balance of digital tourism. On the one hand, thousands of small accommodation facilities, often family -runcomplain of a disparity of forces in the commercial relationship. On the other, A multinational that has revolutionized the online reservations sector defends the legitimacy of its commercial practices.
The outcome of the dispute is very uncertain, but it certainly could significantly influence the dynamics of the European tourist market in the coming years, redefining the relationships between digital platforms and operators in the sector. The gamehowever,, has just started.
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