Good Sunday afternoon from Seattle . . . Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending November 11, 2022, is below. Booking Holdings features prominently in this week’s Update as its planned acquisition of Etraveli faces regulatory scrutiny. Enjoy
Airbnb to Feature Total (All-Inclusive) Pricing
Readers of our weekly update know that resort fees and total (or all-inclusive) pricing are again in the news. While the FTC considers its plans for regulating resort fees and other mandatory charges, some industry members are proactively announcing their own total pricing plans. This past week, Airbnb announced plans to feature total pricing (including nightly rates plus cleaning fees and other applicable Airbnb fees and charges, but excluding taxes) at the beginning of users’ search process across the entire the rental platform (Airbnb already displays all-inclusive pricing where required in the EU). Similar all-inclusive pricing will be featured on the platform’s maps, property listings and price filter tools. Airbnb’s failure to disclose often sizeable cleaning fees until check out has been the subject of many social media complaints and criticisms of the rental platform. The changes are scheduled to take effect next month.
- Booking Holdings’ Planned Acquisition of Etraveli Group to Face Full Scale Regulatory Review. Sources familiar with the European Commission’s ongoing review of Booking Holdings’ planned acquisition of Sweden-based Etraveli Group have shared that the Commission plans to open a full-scale regulatory review of the acquisition when it finalizes its initial preliminary review (scheduled for November 16). Interestingly, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) unconditionally approved of the acquisition earlier this year.
- EU Court Asked to Reconsider Market Definition (and Parity). Nothing like having home court advantage in high stakes anti-trust litigation. A Dutch court considering claims of anti-competitive behavior by local hoteliers against Booking.com has asked the European Court of Justice for direction on defining online markets and whether price parity provisions comply with EU competition laws. In its request, the Dutch court questioned whether online travel platforms truly constitute a separate market (separate and apart from the many other available distribution channels available to travel suppliers). The European Court’s response to the question will not only affect EU competition litigation in the future, but may also affect the decision of whether Booking.com will be subject to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which among its many other prescriptive measures, bans entirely MFN or parity provisions. We’ve linked below Booking.com’s response to the Dutch court’s request, which includes statements by Booking.com that seemingly re-confirm its agency status. These are definitely interesting times in the world of EU competition law and its effects on global online travel platform.
- Hopper and Capital One Re-Affirm Partnership. Hopper and Capital One announced last week a new round of investment ($96 million) by Capital One in Hopper (on top of its previous $170 million investment) and a new long-term partnership between Hopper and Capital One Travel. According to Hopper, the new investment will be used to fund growth, including new social commerce initiatives. It is hard to say which is more meaningful at this point to Hopper, the new investment or a continued partnership, which is rumored by many to be Hopper’s current largest (maybe even primary) source of bookings.
Have a great week everyone.
Other News:
| Airbnb to Display Total Prices Up Front and End Checkout Task Drudgery | ||
| November 11, 2022 via Skift (subscription may be required) | ||
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| Booking's acquisition of ETraveli could hit regulatory snags | |
| November 11, 2022 via Phocus Wire | |
| Booking Holdings' acquisition of ETraveli Group might have to jump regulatory hurdles, with the European Commission set to make a decision next week. A year ago, Booking Holdings announced its €1.6 billion takeover of ETraveli, whose brands include Gotogate, Flygresor, Seat24, Mytrip, virtual interlining technology provider TripStack and Flight Network. ... | |
| Booking's acquisition of ETraveli could hit regulatory snags | |
| November 11, 2022 via Phocus Wire | |
| Booking Holdings' acquisition of ETraveli Group might have to jump regulatory hurdles, with the European Commission set to make a decision next week. A year ago, Booking Holdings announced its €1.6 billion takeover of ETraveli, whose brands include Gotogate, Flygresor, Seat24, Mytrip, virtual interlining technology provider TripStack and Flight Network. ... | |
| Booking.com welcomes questions to EU's top court on market power in hotel booking sector |
| November 11, 2022 via MLex |
| Booking's Etraveli deal faces full-scale EU antitrust probe, sources say | ||
| November 10, 2022 via Reuters (subscription may be required) | ||
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| Hopper Attracts a $96 Million Investment From Capital One in Partnership Expansion | ||
| November 7, 2022 via Skift (subscription may be required) | ||
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| Destinations International creates DEI pilot powered by Tripadvisor | ||
| November 7, 2022 via Phocus Wire | ||
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PrincipalGreg is Chair of the firm's national Hospitality, Travel & Tourism practice, which is directed at the variety of matters faced by hospitality and travel industry members, including purchase and sales agreements, management ...
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About the Editor
Greg Duff founded and chairs Foster Garvey’s national Hospitality, Travel & Tourism group. His practice largely focuses on operations-oriented matters faced by hospitality industry members, including sales and marketing, distribution and e-commerce, procurement and technology. Greg also serves as counsel and legal advisor to many of the hospitality industry’s associations and trade groups, including AH&LA, HFTP and HSMAI.
