Hotels against Booking.com: More than 15,000 demand fair prices!

Hotels against Booking.com: More than 15,000 demand fair prices!

The hotel industry in Europe is facing a groundbreaking turn: Over 15,000 hotels, today, on August 29, 2025, a class action lawsuit against Booking.com joined. This lawsuit refers to the best price clauses that have been in force since 2004, which prohibited hotels to offer their rooms on their own websites at cheaper prices. The aim of these clauses was originally to prevent running riders who inform themselves about Booking.com and then reserve directly at the hotel to save money. But now the hotels have enough-tagesschau.de reports of an overwhelming participation, and this leads to a massive rethink in the field of online bookings.

The registration deadline for the lawsuit ends today and the response is overwhelming. The European Court of Justice had already decided in 2024 that this practice violated EU competition law, which got the stone rolling. A particularly large number of registrations came from Italy, where around 3,000 hotels take part. But also in Germany, the Netherlands, Greece and Austria, numerous hotels have registered. According to the German Hotel Association IHA, around 2,000 German hotels are there.

together strong

The coordination of the lawsuit takes over the "Stichting Hotel Claims Alliance", supported by the European Hotel roof organization Hotrec and over 30 national hotel associations. Your goal is clear: you strive for up to 30 percent of the commissions paid plus interest, which are to be asserted by the responsible court in Amsterdam by the end of the year. This collective action could have far-reaching consequences for the hotel industry and its relationship with online booking platforms.

Invitation to participate: Due to the high participation, the registration deadline has already been extended in order to give all interested hotels the opportunity to join. The mood among the hoteliers is optimistic, and many feel strengthened by this campaign to finally be able to act against Booking.com's practiced pricing policy.

But not only legal disputes are in the room. Even in leisure activities, many hotels are required to diversify their offers and develop creative approaches to inspire guests. An example of this is animal entertainment formats that can be found in hotels and on social media. Another exciting collection shows about 20 amusing videos of dogs who are on the road with their owners in nature or who appear chaotic while swimming. For all dog and animal lovers, this is a wonderful example of the kind of fun that can be experienced during a hotel vacation-mascotalia.es provides these heart-heating clips.

In the ongoing discussion about the competitive conditions in tourism, it shows how important it is for hotels to find innovative ways in order not only to meet the legal challenges, but also to actively focus on the well -being of their guests. Stay tuned because the developments related to the lawsuit and reactions in the industry will definitely remain exciting!