Inquiry into hotel booking sites offers pubs opportunity to speak up
While the investigation is in a very early, information gathering, phase, the eventual findings are expected to shed light on whether or not customers are being misled, are getting the best deals, and if sites such as Booking.com, Trivago, and Expedia are guilty of high pressure sales tactics and breaching competition law.
The British Hospitality Association (BHA) welcomed the probe into the “vast power” booking sites have over members while the British Beer & Pub Association are “raising the issue with members and will consider whether to submit a response in due course”.
Simon Heaton, owner of the Shibden Mill Inn, Halifax, said that while he welcomes the investigation. He said he feels the “main gripe” with booking sites from a small pub-hotel owners’ point of view was the commission sites take. Heaton is a user of Booking.com which takes 18% commission of any booking made. As the owner of an 11-room hotel, he feels that larger hotels are in a stronger position to negotiate commissions with booking sites and create a monopoly while he can’t do the same.
Good deal?
The CMA has written to companies across the sector in an effort to understand their practices and the impact on consumers.
Andrea Coscelli, Chief executive of the CMA said: “Around 70% of people who shopped around for hotels last year used these sites and they should all be confident they have chosen the best accommodation for their needs and are getting a good deal. In today’s increasingly busy world, sites like this offer real potential to help holiday-makers save time and money searching for their ideal get-away.
“To do this, sites need to give their customers information that is clear, accurate and presented in a way that enables people to choose the best deal for them. But we are concerned that this is not happening and that the information on sites may in fact be making it difficult for people to make the right choice.
“That’s why we have started our investigation into this sector – to get to the bottom of these issues, see whether sites are breaking consumer law and make sure they help, not hinder, people searching for their next hotel room.”
