by Nick Vivion, Tnooz
After pressure on Booking.com from regulators in Sweden, France and Italy, the OTA has offered to soften the long-maligned rate parity clause in contracts with hotels. The replacements will be dubbed “narrow price parity” agreements, and would require hotels only to offer Booking.com the same rates that hotels offer to consumers on their own websites.
This would not then extend to other OTAs, meaning that a hotel could enter into an independent agreement with a competing OTA to offer a better price to that specific set of consumers. However, this wouldn’t leave the hoteliers in a comfortable position because it would not only undercut any business from Booking.com’s customers but also undercut the pricing power from a hotel’s own website. ...
Priceline’s Booking.com eases rate parity after European pressure
