Booking.com is facing a fine of 490 million euros from the Spanish competition authority CNMC. According to the Spanish regulator, the booking platform would abuse its dominant position in the market. The decision has yet to be officially announced, but Booking.com has been told through a preliminary judgment that the mega fine is coming. Booking.com announced the news itself in an explanation of the quarterly figures that were presented on Thursday evening. This was not entirely voluntary, because due to American stock exchange rules, Booking.com had to report the fine, even though it has not yet been officially imposed. The company says it can give few details about the content of the decision, a spokesperson told the Financieele Dagblad. It concerns several issues related to market competition, such as the condition that Booking.com imposes on hotels and holiday accommodations on its platform not to offer at a lower price elsewhere. The Spanish regulator announced an investigation into Booking.com back in 2022. It was suspected that Booking.com was abusing its dominant position, which would affect hotels and travel companies in Spain. That investigation followed complaints from the Spanish Association of Hotel Managers and the Madrid Hotel Association. Travel Industry Pension Fund In the figures presented on Thursday evening, Booking.com also mentions a loss of 255 million euros as a result of a ruling by the Dutch court that Booking must join the pension fund for the travel industry (part of pension fund PGB). Initially, the company reported that this would cost 405 million euros, TravMagazine wrote earlier. In the full financial year 2023, Booking.com recorded a turnover of 21.4 billion dollars, converted to almost 20 billion euros. That’s 25 percent more than the previous year, when $17.1 billion was turnover. Net profit amounted to 4.3 billion dollars (almost 3.9 billion euros) last year, or 40 percent more than in 2022. CEO Glenn Fogel speaks of a strong end to 2023. “For the full year, we reached a major milestone with more than 1 billion nights booked on our platforms, and we achieved record levels of gross sales, revenue and operating profit.” Fogel continued, “We are confident in the long-term growth of leisure travel and the opportunities that lie ahead for our business, as we remain committed to providing a better offering and experience for our suppliers and travelers.”
