Booking.com Ordered to Cut Swiss Hotel Commissions By 25%

Excerpt from SWI

Switzerland’s price watchdog has ruled that Booking.com’s commission rates for hotels in the country are excessive. It’s ordered the online travel giant to cut them by nearly 25%. Booking.com has hit back, saying it disagrees with the decision and plans to appeal to the Federal Administrative Court.

The regulator has found that Booking.com falls under the country’s price monitoring law and was charging excessive fees. It approached the company to address the issue, but “intensive negotiations” were unsuccessful.

As a result, Booking.com has been ordered to cut its commission rates by an average of nearly 25%. The company has three months to comply once the ruling comes into force. The measure is temporary and will remain in place for three years.

Booking.com says it plans to appeal the ruling. The company told the Keystone-SDA news agency that its customers are free to list their accommodation on the platform, and it doesn’t agree with the commission cut for what it describes as a purely optional service.

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