Online Travel Update: Airbnb Will Offer Total (All-Inclusive) Pricing | Foster Garvey PC

Good Sunday afternoon from Seattle. . . Our weekly online travel update for the week ending November 11, 2022 is below. Booking Holdings features prominently in this week’s update as its planned acquisition of Etraveli faces regulatory scrutiny. Enjoy

Airbnb will offer a total price (all inclusive)

Readers of our weekly update know that resort fees and full (or all-inclusive) prices are making headlines again. As the FTC considers its plans to regulate resort fees and other mandatory fees, some industry members are proactively announcing their own global pricing plans. Last week, Airbnb announced plans to display the total price (including nightly rates plus cleaning fees and other applicable Airbnb fees and charges, but excluding taxes) at the start of the user search process on Airbnb. whole rental platform (Airbnb already shows all-inclusive prices if needed in the EU). Similar all-inclusive prices will be presented on the platform’s maps, property listings and price filter tools. Airbnb’s failure to disclose often significant cleaning fees through check-out has been the subject of numerous complaints on social media and criticism from the rental platform. The changes are expected to go into effect next month.

Planned acquisition of Etraveli Group by Booking Holdings will face full-scale regulatory review. Sources familiar with the European Commission’s ongoing review of Booking Holdings’ planned acquisition of Sweden’s Etraveli group have said the Commission plans to open a full-scale regulatory review of the acquisition when it finalizes its review. initial preliminary (scheduled for November 16) . Interestingly, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) unconditionally approved the acquisition earlier this year.

EU Court urged to reconsider market definition (and parity). There’s nothing like having home court advantage in high-stakes antitrust litigation. A Dutch court examining allegations of anti-competitive behavior by local hoteliers against Booking.com has asked the European Court of Justice for guidance on the definition of online markets and whether price parity provisions comply with European data protection laws. competition. In its request, the Dutch court questioned whether online travel platforms truly constituted a separate market (separate and distinct from the many other distribution channels available to travel suppliers). The European Court’s answer to the question will not only affect EU competition lawsuits in the future, but could also affect the decision of whether Booking.com will be subject to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which, among its many other prescriptive measures, prohibits MFN or parity provisions entirely. We’ve linked Booking.com’s response to the Dutch court’s request below, which includes statements from Booking.com that appear to reconfirm its status as an agency. We live in really interesting times in the world of EU competition law and its effects on the global online travel platform.

Hopper and Capital One reaffirm their partnership. Hopper and Capital One last week announced a new investment round ($96 million) from Capital One in Hopper (in addition to its previous investment of $170 million) and a new long-term partnership between Hopper and Capital One. OneTravel. According to Hopper, the new investment will be used to fund growth, including new social commerce initiatives. It’s hard to say which is more meaningful at this point for Hopper, the new investment or an ongoing partnership, which is rumored to be Hopper’s biggest (perhaps even the main) source of current bookings.

Have a great week everyone.


Other news:

Airbnb will show total prices upfront and end the drudgery of payment tasks
November 11, 2022 via Skift (subscription may be required)
Skift Take Airbnb has responded to years of criticism of a lack of transparency in the way it displays its prices. Now, will the competitors do the same? Dennis Schaal Bowing to criticism of surprise fees potential guests are encountering late in the booking process, Airbnb announced on Monday that starting next month, it…

Booking’s acquisition of ETraveli could face regulatory issues
November 11, 2022 via Phocus Wire
ETraveli Group’s acquisition by Booking Holdings may have to overcome regulatory hurdles, with the European Commission due to make a decision next week. A year ago, Booking Holdings announced its €1.6 billion takeover of ETraveli, whose brands include Gotogate, Flygresor, Seat24, Mytrip, virtual interlining technology provider TripStack and Flight Network. …

Booking’s acquisition of ETraveli could face regulatory issues
November 11, 2022 via Phocus Wire
ETraveli Group’s acquisition by Booking Holdings may have to overcome regulatory hurdles, with the European Commission due to make a decision next week. A year ago, Booking Holdings announced its €1.6 billion takeover of ETraveli, whose brands include Gotogate, Flygresor, Seat24, Mytrip, virtual interlining technology provider TripStack and Flight Network. …

Booking.com welcomes questions to the EU’s highest court on market power in the hotel booking industry
November 11, 2022 via MLex
Booking.com welcomed a Dutch court’s decision to seek advice from EU judges on how to define online markets and whether price parity clauses comply with the bloc’s competition laws. “The Amsterdam court has now challenged the flawed logic that online travel platforms constitute a market in their own right,” he said. A final verdict would be relevant to any competition case in the sector, as well as to the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which imposes strict obligations on digital platforms considered “gatekeepers”.

Booking’s Etraveli deal is the subject of a full-scale EU antitrust investigation, sources say
November 10, 2022 via Reuters (subscription may be required)
BRUSSELS, Nov 10 (Reuters) – Online travel agency Booking Holdings Inc’s (BKNG.O) 1.63 billion euro ($1.7 billion) bid for Swedish group Etraveli has subject of a full-scale EU antitrust investigation, sources familiar with the matter said. . Booking announced plans to acquire private equity firm Etraveli, owned by CVC Capital Partners, in November last year. Etravely …

Hopper attracts $96 million investment from Capital One in partnership expansion
November 7, 2022 via Skift (subscription may be required)
Capital One, which led a $170 million investment round in travel app Hopper in 2021, added $96 million to the prize pool, and the companies announced a long-term partnership between Hopper and Capital OneTravel. “Following the success of Capital One Travel, Hopper and Capital One announce an extension…

Destinations International Creates DEI Pilot Powered by Tripadvisor
November 7, 2022 via Phocus Wire
Destinations International has unveiled an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) pilot program in partnership with Tripadvisor and the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau in Virginia. “Tourism for All” will launch in Charlottesville and then open to all destinations in early 2024. The program aims to support CVBs and destinations…

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