As of today, Booking Holdings Inc. (BHI), designated as gatekeeper on 13 May 2024, must ensure that its online intermediation service, Booking.com, complies with all relevant obligations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Concretely, this means hotels, car rental companies, and other providers of travel services that depend on Booking.com to reach their customers can begin to […]
The EU most popular region for short-term rental accommodation booked via online platforms was Andalucía
During the first quarter of 2024, guests spent 123.7 million nights in short-term rental accommodation in the EU, booked via Airbnb, Booking, Expedia Group or TripAdvisor. This corresponds to an increase of 28.3% compared with the same period in 2023. Platform tourism continued to set new monthly record values: in January 2024, 33.3 million nights […]
Commission designates Booking as a gatekeeper and opens a market investigation into X
The European Commission has designated under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), Booking as a gatekeeper for its online intermediation service Booking.com and decided not to designate X Ads and TikTok Ads. In parallel, the Commission has opened a market investigation to further assess the rebuttal submitted in relation to the online social networking service X. This decisions follow a […]
European Commission bans Booking’s takeover of eTraveli
The European Commission has prohibited, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Flugo Group Holdings AB (‘eTraveli’) by Booking Holdings (‘Booking’). The acquisition would have allowed Booking to strengthen its dominant position on the market for hotel online travel agencies (‘OTAs’) in the European Economic Area (‘EEA’). Booking did not offer remedies that were sufficient […]
Andalusia was the third region in the EU in terms of the number of accommodations booked through online platforms.
During the fourth quarter of 2022 (Q4 2022), guests spent around 97 million nights in short-term rental accommodation in the EU, booked via Airbnb, Booking, Expedia Group or TripAdvisor. This corresponds to around +25% compared with the same period in 2021. With this value, platform tourism exceeded the levels (+10%) recorded in the pre-pandemic Q4 2019, when platforms reported around […]
Nights booked online up 9% in the Summer of 2022
During the third quarter of 2022, which included the traditional summer holiday months of July and August, guests spent around 251 million nights in short-term rental accommodation in the EU, booked via Airbnb, Booking, Expedia Group or TripAdvisor, an increase of around 24%, compared with the same period of 2021. With this value, platform tourism […]