The European Commission announced on Wednesday the opening of an in-depth investigation to examine whether the purchase of eTraveli Group by Booking could harm competition in the online travel platform sector in which both companies operate.
Brussels fears that the purchase will give Booking a dominant position in the tourist accommodation sector and is therefore initiating an investigation process that must be concluded by March 31 of next year at the latest. The eTraveli group offers flight search, booking and execution services with its platforms Gotogate and Mytrip and also has the airline search engine TripStack.
In its preliminary investigation into the transaction, which was notified to it last October, Brussels indicated that Booking could have a dominant position in the market for online travel agency services for accommodation and that the transaction could significantly reduce competition in this sector by combining eTraveli’s air travel activities with those of Booking.
The Community services are concerned that the transaction could lead to a multiplication of barriers to entry and the expansion of competing online travel agencies, in particular because the transaction could limit the latter’s ability to reach new customers.
«Booking is by far the most popular online travel agency in Europe and acts as a link between thousands of hotels and millions of European travelers. By acquiring a major player in the airline sector, Booking would expand its sphere of activity to other areas of activity in the travel ecosystem,» explained EU competition vice-president Margrethe Vestager.
«Given Booking’s strong position in Europe, it must be carefully assessed to what extent this merger further strengthens its position and whether it may distort competition in certain segments of the travel sector,» she added.
