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Berlin Court Ruling Paves Way for Hotel Compensation Claims Against Booking.com – Image Credit Unsplash
- Over 1,000 German hotels have been granted the right to seek compensation from Booking.com for anticompetitive pricing practices, potentially influencing similar claims across Europe.
- The ruling underscores the impact of restrictive best-price clauses on hotel pricing strategies and market competition, with broader implications for the online travel industry.
A recent decision by the Berlin Regional Court has opened the door for more than 1,000 German hotels to seek compensation from Booking.com for damages arising from anticompetitive best-price clauses. The court found that Booking.com used these clauses between January 2013 and January 2016 to restrict hotels’ ability to set competitive prices, thereby violating European competition law.
The ruling, issued on December 16, 2025, affects 1,099 hotel operators who were part of a broader group of 1,288 plaintiffs seeking declaratory judgments on their right to compensation. The court determined that both the wide best-price clauses, in effect until mid-2015, and the narrower ones used thereafter unlawfully constrained hotels’ pricing freedom and contributed to market foreclosure.
These clauses required hotels to offer their best prices on Booking.com, preventing them from providing lower rates through their own websites or other channels. This restriction not only hindered hotels’ ability to pass on commission savings to customers but also limited their capacity to manage pricing strategies effectively, particularly for last-minute bookings.
The judgment follows a September 2024 ruling by the European Court of Justice, which confirmed that Booking.com’s parity clauses breached competition law across Europe. This has set the stage for potential compensation claims from hotels across the continent, coordinated through initiatives like the Stichting Hotel Claims Alliance in the Netherlands.
The implications of this ruling are significant for the hotel industry, as it challenges the dominance of online travel agencies and their pricing practices. By potentially recovering up to 30% of commissions paid since 2004, hotels could shift the competitive dynamics of the online travel market, encouraging more direct bookings and fostering healthier competition among booking platforms.
The case also underscores a broader regulatory trend of scrutinizing digital platforms’ business practices. As competition authorities across Europe and beyond continue to address similar issues, this ruling may catalyze further legal and regulatory actions to ensure fair competition in the digital marketplace.
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