Booking called out for unethical practices
Israel protests on the OTA's doorstep and the new trouble as gatekeeper
Autor

Sarah Douag
worked for a travel agency before she started writing for French media. From Cannes and Paris, she moved to lively Amsterdam, where she analyzes international hospitality trends and their backgrounds with razor-sharp precision.
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Booking.com: Under enormous pressure
Booking Holdings reported a record year in 2023 - and is also defending itself against a hefty fine from the Spanish supervisory authorities for alleged anti-competitive practices. The company must also notify the European Commission of its potential categorisation as a "gatekeeper", which entails new regulations.
The gatekeepers behind the gate
Four weeks ago, the European Union activated two important digital laws from 2021: they restrict the freedom of action of six tech giants: Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, ByteDance (Tiktok), Meta (Facebook), and Microsoft - the "gatekeepers" of the virtual world - will have to respect customers rights. Also, the laws will reinforce the bargaining power of millions of European SMEs, also in the hotel industry.
Booking and Airbnb under tax pressure in Italy
The Italian tax authorities and the online travel portal booking.com have settled a long-standing dispute over the payment of more than 150 million euros in VAT. The tax authorities are also putting pressure on Airbnb over several hundred million euros. At the same time, the EU is demanding more data transparency.