Hotels versus Expedia and Booking.com
The hotel industry has stepped up its battle against online booking giants Expedia and Booking.com.
It’s now telling the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that its decision in September requiring Expedia, Wotif, Bookings.com and Hotels.com to remove clauses from contracts requiring accommodation providers to always offer them the cheapest available rates did not go far enough.
The deal still gives them the right to advertise room rates on the internet as the lowest available price.
The hotel industry claims that the online travel agencies have too much control which see guests paying 15 per cent more on room rates than necessary.
They claim that the ruling means hotels could not offer a cheaper price on their own website. They can provide a better deal, but that’s only if a guest called them direct.
In particular, they have targeted Expedia and Booking.com and they have asked the corporate regulator to break the duopoly.
Accommodation Association of Australia CEO Richard Munro has sent a letter with a formal request to ACCC Chairman Rod Sims.
The letter spells out their outrage in no uncertain terms.
“To say members of the AAA are angry with the outcome of the ACCC investigation is an understatement,” the letter says.
“The ACCC is seemingly unaware that the overwhelming majority of accommodation bookings in Australia in 2016 are made via the internet, and very few bookings are made directly with accommodation businesses and/or through walk-ups.”
Mr Munro says the commissions charged by Expedia and Booking.com are over the top.
“The commissions are as high as 20 per cent. They’ve almost doubled in recent years and it’s only going to get worse for as long as these two command such control,” Mr Munro told news.com.au.
For their part, the online travel shops are saying they are actually providing the hoteliers with global exposure at no upfront cost.
by Leon Gettler, November 16th 2016
