Irish hotels to join 'unprecedented' legal action against Booking.com
More than 900 Irish hotels have joined a landmark legal action against online travel agency Booking.com over what they say were inflated rates of commission imposed for two decades.
Joining with hotels across Europe, the group is seeking 'substantial financial compensation' from Booking.com following a judgment from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) last September, which found that the platform's so-called parity clauses breached EU competition law. This judgement has binding effect across all EU members states.
It is estimated that over 900 Irish hotels and guesthouses are eligible to join this legal action, having been negatively impacted by Booking.com's use of anti-competitive parity clauses that were in effect from 2004 to 2024, the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) has said.
These clauses placed hotels and their customers at a significant competitive disadvantage by suppressing price competition between Booking.com and other online platforms, IHF added, which resulted in hotels being charged inflated commission rates.
The legal action will also argue that the clauses restricted hotels from offering better prices or availability on their own websites, limiting direct sales and autonomy.
"Under the general principles of European competition law, hotels in Ireland and across Europe are now entitled to claim compensation from Booking.com for the financial losses suffered," the IHF said.
"Affected hotels may be eligible to recover a significant portion of commissions paid to Booking.com in any period from 2004 to 2024 plus interest."
Paul Gallagher, chief executive of the IHF said: "This is an unprecedented legal action which the Irish Hotels Federation is supporting on behalf of members, seeking to obtain full compensation for hotels affected by Booking.com's anti-competitive practices.
"The platform's parity clauses have been a major issue for Irish hotels going back twenty years, resulting in significant financial harm due to the inflated levels of commissions charged.
"We see this as an important opportunity to send a strong message to online booking platforms that unfair business practices will not go unchallenged.'
The collective legal action is being supported by the European hospitality association and over 25 national hotel associations across Europe. It is being brought before the Amsterdam District Court in the Netherlands, where Booking.com BV is headquartered.
In addition to the Irish Hotels Federation, the action is supported by national hotel associations from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland.
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