Enough is enough! Hotels sue Booking - for millions in losses!

What has been fermenting for a long time is finally coming to court: Europe's hoteliers have had enough of the so-called "best price clauses" of large booking portals such as Booking.com. Now a huge class action is forming - with support from 26 countries. Austrian hotels could also hope for compensation. There is a lot of money at stake - and the question: Can a platform determine what a hotel is allowed to charge for its rooms?

Why hoteliers are suddenly complaining - and what Booking has to do with it

Anyone who has ever booked a hotel online will be familiar with it: platforms such as Booking.com show a price - and often claim that this is the best offer. The problem: many hotels were not allowed to offer their rooms cheaper anywhere - not even on their own website! This was made possible by so-called best price clauses, also known as parity clauses.

These clauses obliged hotels to always offer the same or a better price on Booking.com than elsewhere. That sounds fair - but it's not. Because the platform collects a hefty commission on every booking. So when a hotel is booked via Booking, less of the cake is left over. However, it was forbidden to offer your own offers at a lower price.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) clearly criticized this practice last year - opening the door to possible claims for damages.

Austria was a pioneer - but damage may still have occurred

In Austria, such price fixing was banned around 10 years ago. Nevertheless, associations such as the Austrian Hotel Association (ÖHV) and the Hotel Industry Association of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ) believe there is a good chance that domestic businesses will also be able to assert claims. This is because the booking platforms operated throughout Europe - and their market power also influenced the Austrian market.

The class action is being initiated by the European hotel association Hotrec and already covers 26 countries. It is intended to clarify: How much damage have the clauses caused? And above all: who pays for it?

Booking itself rejects the accusations in a statement. The criticism of the ECJ ruling is "false and misleading". At the same time, however, no information is provided on possible compensation - which is unlikely to reassure hoteliers.

David versus Goliath - this time in the hotel lobby

The fact that so many countries are now joining forces shows: The resentment is huge. Many hoteliers feel they have been bullied for years. The "voluntary participation" argument hardly works - anyone who wasn't listed on Booking had a hard time being found at all. The digital coercion was subtle - but effective.

Now it's not just about a few euros per booking, but millions. Every hotelier who has lost profits due to the price clauses should now be able to reclaim their share. Prerequisite: joining the class action.

What was sold as "fair market regulation" was in reality a tough dictate with a one-way street - in favor of the platforms, of course. The class action is therefore more than just a legal dispute: it is a wake-up call against digital dependency. When Booking & Co. have more power than entire industries, something is going wrong.