European Hotels Unite to Sue Booking.com
Hotels across Europe are being urged to join a collective legal action against Booking.com to recover billions of euros in allegedly excessive commission fees. The class action is being launched in the Netherlands, where Booking.com is headquartered, and will be coordinated by the Stichting Hotel Claim Alliance. Legal and economic experts specializing in competition damage, including Brussels-based attorney Volker Soyez of Schneider Geiwitz & Partner, are leading the effort.
The lawsuit follows a significant ruling by the European Court of Justice in September 2024 in a case involving 63 German hotels and hotel groups. The case centers on the legality of price parity clauses used by Booking.com, which have long restricted hotels from offering lower rates on their own websites or through competing platforms. Germany’s Federal Cartel Office ruled in 2013 that wide parity clauses violated competition law, and later in 2015, the narrower version was also deemed unlawful under both German and EU law.
The legal action has gained support from Hotrec, the European hotel and restaurant association, which claims the ECJ ruling confirmed Booking.com’s practices violated EU competition law. In response, Booking.com denied any wrongdoing, stating the court did not determine that its clauses were anti-competitive and insisting it will continue to defend its practices in court.
According to Soyez, the ruling has sparked wider awareness among European hoteliers who now recognize the potential to reclaim overpaid commissions. While large hotel chains could afford legal action independently, smaller operators lacked the resources. The Stichting Hotel Claim Alliance aims to cover legal costs and mitigate financial risks, enabling all hotels, regardless of size, to join the claim.
Hotels interested in participating must do so by July 31 and provide incorporation details and Booking.com invoices. The claim is open to hotels across the EU, the European Economic Area, and even non-EU countries like the UK and Switzerland. In a parallel German case involving around 2,000 hotels, claims total €750 million, excluding interest, suggesting the Europe-wide claim could be worth billions.
While some in the industry view the case as a distraction, others see it as a long-overdue stand against digital platform dominance. Critics argue that hotels should focus more on building strong direct distribution strategies rather than relying on OTAs. Industry experts like Max Starkov and Pedro Colaço contend that Booking.com’s dominance is partly due to hotels’ reluctance to invest in technology, digital marketing, and CRM systems.
Still, proponents of the class action believe it represents a pivotal opportunity for hotels to push back against restrictive OTA practices and rebalance the relationship between hotels and platforms. While no action is currently planned against other OTAs like Expedia due to their lower market share, Booking.com’s dominant 70% presence in the European market makes it a prime target for regulatory and legal scrutiny.
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