Duff on Hospitality Law

This week’s Update features a variety of stories, including updates on Ryanair’s attempts to stop platforms’ scraping of fares and other content from its website.  We will continue to keep monitor Ryanair’s claims against Booking.com in the weeks ahead.  Enjoy.

• • European Commission Resumes Review of Booking Holdings’ Proposed Purchase of ETraveli.  It’s been some time since our last story on Booking’s planned purchase of online flight booking platform, ETraveli.  The Commission suspended its review of the purchase approximately four months ago, but announced this past week that it was resuming its work.  The Commission has until August 30 to complete the review. 
    
    
  • Fintech, Tips, Support Service Fees and More:  Hopper Has It All.  Much has been written in the industry (including our own Update) about Hopper.  Hopper was one of the first platforms to fully leverage “fintech” tools as part of its B2B and B2C offerings.  With the renewed attention on resort fees and other mandatory charges, Skift’s recent article about “tips” on Hopper’s booking platform caught our attention.  Although Hopper’s “tip” is not mandatory, users of the platform (assuming they even see the charge) must affirmatively opt-out of payment the flat-fee or percentage charge.  Hopper takes a similar approach with support service fees, which also require an unsuspecting user to opt-out of paying the additional charge.  Does the ability to opt-out of these charges allow Hopper to avoid current efforts to reign in so-called “junk fees,” possibly, depending on the conspicuousness of the fees and their disclosures.  If the tips are simply a mechanism for offsetting operating costs (as opposed to actual “tips” paid to individuals who assist in making the booking), however, Hopper could garner the attention of regulators or an enterprising class action firm. 
    
    
  • Expedia Launches Platform to Make Entertainment Tourism Bookable.  Expedia Media Solutions announced last week the launch of a new media platform that allows users to shop and book travel while watching travel content.  If successful, the platform will allow Expedia to capitalize on the growing influence of television and movies (think “White Lotus”) on travelers’ decisions.  Brand USA has partnered with Expedia in the launch of this latest new offering by working together to create a dedicated channel (GoUSA) that features inspirational travel content and interactive maps, while at the same time allowing viewers the opportunity to book featured destination (hotels, air and experiences) in real time.  The channel is now live in Canada and will be rolled out to other international markets over the course of the year.