The Italian Competition Authority has closed the investigation into the alleged abuse of a dominant position against the companies Booking.com (Italia) Srl, Booking.com BV and Booking.com International BV (hereinafter referred to as “Booking”), accepting the proposed commitments.

The Authority had initiated proceedings for potentially abusive conduct by Booking, which allegedly limited the autonomy of Italian hotel facilities to differentiate their rates between booking.com and other online sales channels by adhering to certain programs promoted by Booking. In particular, these refer to the Preferred Partner and Preferred Plus programmes, which present benefits in terms of visibility in search results in return for higher commission payments and the commitment to provide 'competitive' pricing on booking.com, as well as the so-called Booking Sponsored Benefit, which enables Booking to apply a discount—without requiring prior approval from the establishment—to match the offer on its platform with the best available online.

Overall, the Authority found the commitments proposed by Booking to be adequate to remove the competition concerns. The group has, in fact, submitted a package of commitments to ensure that the prices imposed by facilities on online sales channels different from booking.com are not taken into account at any stage in the operation and promotion of the cited programmes. In addition, internal/external communication with facilities on access to and operation of these programmes is consistently changed and transparency to facilities on their operation is increased by sending one-off nominative emails to new partners and statistical data on a regular, periodic basis.

According to the Authority, the commitments presented by Booking ensure that the criteria for participation and the operation of the programmes in question are disconnected, at every stage of their implementation, from the pricing strategies practised by accommodation facilities on other sales channels. This ensures the commercial autonomy of the accommodation facilities and encourages competitive dynamics among OTAs in offering intermediation and online booking services. Furthermore, the enhanced transparency related to the functioning of the Preferred Partner, Preferred Plus, and Booking Sponsored Benefit programmes enables establishments to make more informed decisions concerning the costs and benefits of their participation.

Rome, 19 December 2024