Two leading online travel companies and the world's biggest hotel operator have been accused by a regulator of conspiring to fix room rates.
A two-year investigation by Britain's Office of Fair Trading provisionally found that InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), the owner of the Holiday Inn chain, colluded with Booking.com and Expedia to limit discounts to the public. The regulator warned that the arrangements could be widespread in the travel industry, signalling the possibility of investigations into other companies.
British-based IHG and US-owned Booking.com insisted they had done nothing wrong and indicated that they would challenge the findings. A complaint from a small online travel agent that it was being prevented by large hotel chains from offering discounts for room-only accommodation triggered the investigation in 2010.
Publishing a statement on its interim findings yesterday, the OFT said Booking.com and Expedia had entered into separate agreements with IHG which appeared to breach the 1998 Competition Act. Expedia allegedly violated rules from 2007 to 2010, the OFT said, adding that the arrangement between Booking.com and IHG was continuing.
The regulator said the alleged infringements could limit price competition between online travel agents and make it harder for new online travel agents to win business by offering cut-price deals. Clive Maxwell, the OFT's chief executive, said: "We want people to benefit fully from being able to shop around online and get a better deal from discounters."
