All clauses in contracts between online travel agents and hoteliers relating to price parity must be banned.
This is according to HOTREC, an organisation representing the interests of the European hotel sector. The call came in response to a European Commission (EC) announcement regarding parity clauses, specifically with regards to Booking.com.
The EC said last month that market tests will be started in the French, Swedish and Italian competition authorities’ antitrust investigations in the online hotel booking sector. These investigations concern clauses in contracts between online booking sites and hotels that require hoteliers to offer the same price or better to that site compared with prices advertised on all other channels.
There are concerns that this could have a negative effect on competition within the market – especially in light of Booking.com’s large market share – and prevent new online booking platforms from launching.
Booking.com has said it will take steps to remove the requirement that hotels offer the same or better prices to itself compared with other online travel agents. However, it still wants to enforce a parity clause concerning prices advertised on hotels’ own websites and other channels.
“HOTREC calls upon competition authorities in Europe to ban all types of parity clauses from hotel distribution contracts, in order to allow hoteliers to decide themselves, and not the retailers, on how and for which price their hotel rooms are sold on the different distribution channels,” said Markus Luthe, chair of HOTREC’s Distribution Task Force.
HOTREC also noted that 90 per cent of of hotel bookings made via online travel agents are accounted for by just three websites, the largest of which is Booking.com.
The EC set a deadline of January 31st 2015 for the submission of all comments on the proposed commitments to the relevant national competition authorities, which has now passed.
