A major collective legal action against Booking.com has gained significant momentum, with more than 10,000 hotels across Europe now formally joining the case.
The Stichting Hotel Claims Alliance (SHCA) confirmed the latest expansion this week, marking one of the largest industry pushbacks ever mounted against an online travel platform.The action centres on Booking.com’s long‑term use of price‑parity clauses contractual terms used between 2004 and 2024 that allegedly prevented hotels from setting their own prices freely. According to SHCA, these clauses strengthened Booking.com’s dominant market position, distorted competition, and caused substantial financial losses for hotels across the continent.
The latest filing adds 7,696 hotels to the claim, bringing the total number of participating properties to 10,783. SHCA expects a third and final expansion in autumn 2026, projecting total participation to reach around 18,000 hotels. Registration is free, and hotels can join until 11 September 2026.
Industry bodies have welcomed the move. Alexandros Vassilikos, President of HOTREC the umbrella association representing Europe’s hotels, restaurants and cafés — said the scale of the action reflects the sector’s determination to defend fair competition and seek redress for years of restrictive practices.
The case is being heard in Amsterdam, in line with Booking.com’s own terms specifying Dutch jurisdiction. SHCA says this avoids lengthy disputes over where the case should be tried and builds on the court’s existing familiarity with related proceedings dating back to 2020.
Supported by HOTREC and more than 30 national hospitality associations, SHCA expects the total damages sought to reach several billion euros. The foundation is registered in both the Netherlands and Germany and is led by directors Dr. Volker Soyez and Lawrence Kho.
With thousands more hotels preparing to join, the action marks a turning point in the relationship between Europe’s hospitality sector and one of the world’s most powerful travel platforms — and signals a growing appetite for regulatory and legal scrutiny across the industry.
Booking.com have issued a statement in response to the above action:
“We continue to believe these claims are without merit. In fact, the Amsterdam Court has recently confirmed in parallel proceedings that the hotels involved with a similar claim have still not provided evidence proving that Booking.com’s past parity clauses restricted competition or provided plausible proof of any damages. We will continue to defend our position and do what we do best: bringing incremental business to all of our more than 2.3 million accommodation partners across Europe, both large and small, enabling them to reach a global audience in a transparent, cost-efficient way, thus helping grow local economies in every corner of the continent.
It’s important to highlight that the claims raised in these proceedings still only relate to a very small proportion – equal to 0.4% – of our 2.3 million European accommodation partners”.
