AMSTERDAM, June 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Today Booking.com, an operating
business of The Priceline Group [NASDAQ: PCLN], announced it will
amend its parity terms with all accommodations partners in
Europe by 1 July 2015 to be
consistent with the binding commitments given to the French,
Italian and Swedish National Competition Authorities ("NCAs") in
April, and in line with its commitment to a new Europe-wide standard to keep competition
healthy, driving value for consumers and hoteliers.
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Since agreeing to the commitments with the French, Italian and
Swedish NCAs, Booking.com announced its intent to implement these
commitments throughout Europe.
Booking.com's decision today is a direct result of feedback from
many European NCAs indicating that they would welcome Booking.com
implementing the commitments in their jurisdiction.
Under the new provisions, Booking.com will abandon its price,
availability and booking conditions parity provisions with respect
to other online travel agencies. This will create an environment
that supports increased transparency and competition among online
travel agencies which will ultimately benefit consumers, as well as
hoteliers, by encouraging properties to offer different pricing and
booking policies (e.g. free cancellation, WIFI, breakfast) through
different online travel agencies.
Booking.com will retain its "narrow MFNs" for prices and booking
conditions which will ensure hotels offer the same rates and
booking conditions on Booking.com as they do through their own
direct website, in order to ensure Booking.com can continue to be a
cost-effective marketing channel for partners and deliver
transparency, choice and great prices for consumers. Under these
new conditions, Booking.com can continue to provide a valuable
service to consumers that delivers transparency, access to
information, choice, value and a seamless experience, and a
valuable service to hotels by providing highly cost-effective
marketing to help hotels promote their properties around the world,
reach new subsets of travelers and fill their rooms to keep their
businesses growing.
Today's announcement means that Booking.com's standard terms
will be the same for all of its European partners - helping to
build a single European digital economy.
"The commitments agreed with the French, Italian and Swedish
NCAs promote competition in a way that supports innovation and
investment. We think that all of our European partners and
consumers booking at European hotels should benefit from the
commitments agreed to with the French, Italian and Swedish NCAs
which is why we have decided to amend voluntarily our parity
provisions right throughout Europe
to be consistent with those commitments," said Gillian Tans,
President of Booking.com. "We welcome and encourage fair
competition and hope that our fellow online travel agencies follow
Booking.com's lead as part of a shared commitment to support best
pricing for consumers."
With the implementation of the new parity provisions,
Booking.com will continue its Best Price Guarantee and match any
lower price that may be found on another booking website.
Booking.com will also continue to innovate in the way it works with
its accommodations partners to highlight and promote to its global
customer base the best deals on the Internet.
"The Internet has revolutionized the travel experience for people
all over the world who seek transparency, access to better
information, great value and a better booking experience, as well
as for hoteliers looking to grow their business by expanding their
global customer base through new digital marketing channels," said
Federico J. González Tejera, CEO - NH Hotel Group. "Booking.com has
been an important partner for us and we look forward to continuing
this partnership under the new terms."
Booking.com trusts that these changes will set the tone for an
industry wide solution.
About Booking.com:
Booking.com is the world leader in booking hotel and other
accommodations online. It guarantees the best prices for any type
of property - from small independents to five-star luxury. Guests
can access the Booking.com website anytime, anywhere from their
desktops, mobile phones and tablet devices, and they don't pay
booking fees - ever. The Booking.com website is available in 42
languages, offers over 675,000 hotels and accommodations including
more than 290,000 vacation rental properties and covers over 75,000
destinations in 212+ countries and territories worldwide. It
features over 50 million reviews written by guests after their
stay, and attracts online visitors from both leisure and business
markets around the globe. With over 19 years of experience and a
team of over 9,300 dedicated employees in 165+ offices worldwide,
Booking.com operates its own in-house customer service team, which
is available 24/7 to assist guests in their native languages and
ensure an exceptional customer experience.
Established in 1996, Booking.com B.V. owns and operates
Booking.com™, and is part of The Priceline Group (NASDAQ: PCLN).
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or learn more at http://www.booking.com .
SOURCE Booking.com