Multiple hotels across Europe are legally pursuing Booking.com, alleging harmful business tactics
European Hotels Launch Class-Action Lawsuit Against Booking.com
Over 10,000 European hotels have filed a class-action lawsuit against Booking.com, alleging antitrust violations related to its "best price" clauses. The lawsuit, spearheaded by the European Hotel, Restaurant and Café Association (Hotrec), seeks compensation for financial losses from 2004 to 2024.
The key allegations by the hotels, supported by over 30 national hotel associations, are:
- Restriction of competition: By prohibiting hotels from listing lower prices elsewhere, Booking.com allegedly suppressed competition and harmed direct bookings.
- Inflated commission rates: The hotels claim that the "best price" clauses forced them to pay higher commission rates to Booking.com because they couldn't offer better deals directly or via other platforms.
- Suppression of direct bookings: The hotels argue that the clauses harmed them financially by reducing the number of direct bookings.
- Distortion of online market competition across Europe: The hotels allege that Booking.com's practices distorted competition in the online hotel booking market.
The legal action is being heard in the Netherlands, where Booking.com is headquartered, and is expected to be one of the largest lawsuits ever filed in the European hospitality sector.
Booking.com had implemented these clauses to prevent "free-rider" bookings, where customers find a hotel via the platform but book it directly to avoid commissions. However, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that online platforms like Booking.com can operate without imposing such restrictive stipulations.
Following this ruling and the enforcement of the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) 2024, these best-price clauses have been abolished within the European Economic Area. Affected hotels are now seeking compensation for the damage caused during the many years these clauses were in effect.
As of the current statement, Booking.com has not received any formal notification of a class action, and the lawsuit is still ongoing with no formal action taken against the company. The deadline for hotels to register for the collective action was extended to August 29, 2025, due to high demand, but no new information about the case has been provided since then.
[1] European Court of Justice Ruling on Booking.com's "Best Price" Clauses (2024) [2] European Commission's Statement on Booking.com's "Best Price" Clauses (2024) [3] Hotel Claims Alliance Press Release (2024) [4] Hotelier Europe Article on the Class-Action Lawsuit (2025) [5] Digital Markets Act (DMA) 2024
- The removal of the "best price" clauses, following the European Court of Justice's ruling and the enforcement of the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) 2024, could potentially lead to a decrease in average commission rates paid by businesses in the European hotel industry, as hotels may have more flexibility to offer better deals directly or via other platforms.
- The compensation sought by the European hotels in their class-action lawsuit against Booking.com, spearheaded by the European Hotel, Restaurant and Café Association (Hotrec), would not only cover financial losses from 2004 to 2024, but could also have technological implications for the online hotel booking business, incentivizing platforms to develop more consumer-friendly business models.
