Some hotels in Estonia are also interested in joining a class action suit against online platform Booking.com, saying that the site puts a floor on prices they can charge.
More than 10,000 hotels across Europe are calling for compensation from Booking.com, as they see its “best price” clauses and a requirement to restrict accommodation establishments from offering lower prices than those quoted on the platform to be in violation of competition law.
Külli Kraner, CEO of the national hotel and restaurant association, told “Vikerhommik” that while Booking.com remains an important partner for Estonia’s hotels and accommodation businesses, the market-distorting conditions it causes should go.
“I certainly believe that our hotels also see and consider it important that our market has balance and that equal competition is ensured,” she said.
According to Kraner, joining the action against Booking.com is an individual decision for each business, while, due to confidentiality concerns, it is currently not possible to say exactly how many businesses in Estonia have joined the movement.
Hotels’ initial acceptance of price-restricting rules as relating to Booking.com “took years” in Estonia, she added.
More read: ERR.EE
