Europe’s travel industry is reacting to the new that the planned €1.63bnacquisition of Sweden’s flight booking provider Etraveli Group by Booking Holdings has been blocked by EU antitrust authorities.
The European Union Commission has expressed concerns that such a deal would strengthen Booking Holdings’ dominant position in the travel agency sector. The Commission stated that solutions proposed by Booking Holdings regarding the issue were insufficient. Moreover, the Commission found that the acquisition would result in higher costs for hotels and potentially have a negative impact on consumers’ prices.
This decision marks the first merger to be blocked in 2023 by the EU. Interestingly, the deal had already received approval in England, highlighting the differences in regulatory approach between markets.
Following its investigation, the Commission said it found out the proposed deal would have led to higher costs for hotels, and possibly, a negative impact on the price paid by consumers.
Overall, the European Commission’s investigation concluded that Booking Holdings’ acquisition of ETraveli would not be permitted. Booking’s brands include Booking.com, Rentalcars, Priceline and Agoda.
In a statement, Ryanair said that consumers booking airline tickets are often lured into websites of online travel agents advertising “low fares”, only to later pay significantly higher fees for baggage, seat reservation and other services.
“Many OTAs also withhold customers’ payment and contact details out of fear that a customer may find out that the airline received much less for the booking than the customer paid to the OTA. The European Commission’s decision in the Booking/Etraveli case is therefore good news for consumers all around the world.”
