Italy: Booking under scrutiny by Antitrust Authority

This week, the OTA Booking.com informed its customers by email that "suspicious activity" had been detected and that "unauthorised third parties" may have gained access to booking information and thus to customers’ personal data.

For eleven years, a single hotel has been fighting for the entire industry. Now things are getting tougher for Booking.com after the private hotel Wikingerhof won its second case before the German Federal Court of Justice. Even if this is not yet the final victory, it may already influence the pending decision in the European class action lawsuit involving around 15,000 hotels.

The European umbrella organization of hotel associations, HOTREC, confirmed this week that the collective action seeking compensation for European hotels harmed by Booking.com’s unlawful parity clauses has been formally initiated before the Amsterdam District Court.

On 16 December 2025, a landmark ruling was handed down by the Berlin Regional Court, backing German hotels in their fight against the best price clauses used by Booking. This is an important signal for the ongoing class action lawsuit against the OTA.