Booking.com Implements New Parity Provisions in Germany

AMSTERDAM, May 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

New Provisions Follow Recent Commitments Accepted in France, Italy and Sweden  

Today Booking.com, an operating business of The Priceline Group [NASDAQ: PCLN] announced it will waive enforcement of its existing wide parity provisions with German accommodations with immediate effect and will amend its standard terms and other agreements with German accommodations by 1 July 2015 to be consistent with the binding commitments given to the French, Italian and Swedish National Competition Authorities.

As a result, German hotels, and consumers booking at German hotels, will get the same benefits as their counterparts in France, Italy and Sweden. 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 intends to implement these commitments throughout the European Economic Area and is working with all other European National Competition Authorities towards this objective. Booking.com is seeking to achieve an industry wide solution which all major online travel agencies and European Competition Authorities will endorse.

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 625,000 hotels and accommodations including more than 245,000 vacation rental properties and covers over 75,000 destinations in 212+ countries and territories worldwide. It features over 47 million reviews written by guests after their stay, and attracts online visitors from both leisure and business markets around the globe. With over 17 years of experience and a team of over 8,600 dedicated employees in 155+ 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). Follow us on Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest, like us on Facebook, or learn more at http://www.booking.com.