EU Designates Booking.com as a “Gatekeeper” - What Does This Mean for the Hotel Industry?

The EU's "Digital Markets Act" is a law from 2022 designed to make markets in the digital sector fairer. Through this law, the EU has now designated Booking.com as a "gatekeeper." This could have a significant impact on the hotel industry today.

What is a “Gatekeeper”?

"Gatekeepers" are large digital platforms, such as search engines, that often act as core platforms. By designating Booking.com as a "gatekeeper," it is categorized as a core platform and subjected to the regulations of the "Digital Markets Act," which dictates how they should operate as a digital marketplace.

What Does This Mean for the Hotel Industry?

For the hotel industry, OTAs like Booking.com have been both a blessing and a curse. The increased traffic from the platform has been beneficial for hotels, but using third parties is known to be costly, making it harder to build loyal customers and strong relationships. Now that Booking.com is more regulated, hotels will have greater control over their business operations.

One particularly interesting aspect for hotels with Booking.com being designated as a “gatekeeper” is that they now have to provide business users with access to the data generated through the Booking.com platform. This reduces the issue of data ownership based on where the guest booked their stay.

Loyco’s Solution Facilitates Excellent Communication with Your Guests!

With hotels now able to access their own data from Booking.com, it becomes easier to gain insights into their guest base and thus create effective communication. Loyco's solutions facilitate simple and automated communication with your guests. Not only do we offer loyalty programs, but we also enable the import of data lists into the dashboard so you can communicate with your guests who are not loyalty members as well.

Want to learn more about Loyco's solutions? Feel free to email us or contact us through the form!

Sources:

European Commission (n.d.) Digital Markets Act. https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/index_en

European Commission (2024, May 13) Commission designates Booking as a gatekeeper and opens a market investigation into X* [Press release] https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/commission-designates-booking-gatekeeper-and-opens-market-investigation-x-2024-05-13_en

More insight from Loyco

Mani boosts loyalty and sales with Loyco & Front Systems

Mani, a rapidly growing retailer with bothonline and physical stores, aimed to improve customer engagement and unifyloyalty and gift card management across all channels. Through our loyaltydashboard and seamless integration with Front Systems, Mani adopted astreamlined solution that enhanced operational efficiency and elevated customerexperience. This case study highlights how Loyco’s tools and integrationcapabilities supported Mani in achieving these results.

Read more
From Internship to job offer

Loyco practices internships to provide opportunities for practical experience, networking, and career exploration. Often, they serve as a bridge between education and a permanent job. In this article, we share a story about our former intern who received a job offer one week after completing their internship.

Read more
Keep customers engaged with the digital guest journey

In today's digital landscape, good communication is the key tool for attracting and retaining valuable customers. In this article we want to explore the digital guest journey and its importance in retaining loyal members.

Read more
View all