Booking Faces Class Action Lawsuit from 10,000+ Hotels

Over 10,000 hotels in Europe are preparing a class action lawsuit against Booking.com for abusive practices. The lawsuit was filed by the Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes in Europe (HOTREC) association.

The hotels claim that Booking has been using its dominant market position to distort competition for 20 years, through the 'best price' clause, which prevented them from offering lower prices on other platforms or their own websites. The lawsuit will be heard in Amsterdam and concerns the period 2004-2024.

HOTREC President, Alexandros Vasilikos, denounced the 'abusive practices in the digital market'. Booking, on its part, claims that the allegations are 'incorrect and misleading' and that it has not received official notification of a class action lawsuit.

A study by HOTREC and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland found that Booking Holdings held 71% of the European market in 2024.