Our firm represented the Israel Hotel Association in a complaint about restrictive arrangements that Booking dictates to hotels in Israel (also known as Price Parity Clauses), and also in the proceeding for the consensual order that was signed between Booking and the Israel Competition Authority in this regard.
In accordance with the consensual order, Booking will be prohibited from demanding that hotels do not post on competing Internet platforms (such as Expedia) better prices and conditions than those that are posted on Booking’s platforms.
The Competition court approved the consensual order for a period of four years, while requiring the Authority to conduct an in-depth market examination in the matter and to take measures against Booking, should it transpire that Booking harmed the competition in Israel.
The court also emphasized that the approval of the order does not allow Booking to adopt anti-competitive practices which have not been expressly prohibited in the order. This is in accordance with the Israel Hotel Association’s demand that the consensual order should not be viewed as granting Booking permission to prohibit hotels from posting lower prices on the hotels’ websites.
The Israel Hotel Association was represented by partner Avner Finkelshtein.
