The highest European Court issued criticism on Thursday about the price rules that Booking.com forced hotel owners to follow.

Earlier, the owners were not allowed to offer lower prices on their own website or a different booking site than on Booking.com. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has now decided that Booking.com was not allowed to do this in accordance with European Union laws.

The Court looked at the case after questions were submitted by an Amsterdam court about whether Booking.com was allowed to enforce these price rules with regard to European laws. The booking platform felt that this was allowed, but the CJEU ruled that Booking.com was not allowed to impose these "additional restrictions" under competition law.

According to the European Court, the rules are not "objectively necessary" for carrying out the main activities of the booking site or are unnecessarily restrictive to Booking.com's goals.

Booking.com said that it will respond to the verdict at a later date. According to a spokesperson, the price rules were dropped in the Netherlands and other EU countries on July 1 in accordance with European law. This means that hotel owners can offer lower prices via their website or platforms other than Booking.com.

TUI said sales for the 2024/25 winter season are off to a “promising start” and bookings are already up 7% as consumers continue to prioritize spending on leisure experiences.