In a landmark legal move, more than 10,000 hotels from over 25 European countries have filed a collective lawsuit against Booking.com, accusing the platform of enforcing restrictive “best price” clauses for two decades.
The hoteliers argue that these clauses—preventing them from offering lower prices even on their own websites—stifled competition and led to inflated commissions averaging 12% per booking.
The lawsuit leans heavily on a September 2024 ruling by the European Court of Justice, which found such clauses neither necessary nor proportionate, and potentially harmful to market fairness, especially for small and independent operators.
Booking.com insists the ruling is irrelevant outside Germany and pertains to older cases, but with the company headquartered in Amsterdam, the case will unfold in Dutch courts.
The outcome could reshape how digital platforms operate in the EU hospitality sector and may open the door to similar actions worldwide.
