When a customer has choice and can exercise it with confidence, we see a triple-win: for service providers, the whole market and the customers themselves. This synergy is further amplified by digital technologies and ever growing internet connectivity. In the travel accommodation sector, robust competition among distribution channels encourages…

Direct booking amounted to 63% of overnight stays in 2021 — “When customers are your true north, everyone wins,” argued Frank Vella in a column for Forbes magazine. We are of the same view at Booking.com, and we were glad to see the results of a recent study by Hotellerie Suisse. The bottom line is that a market for accommodations remains…

Welcome to the Booking.com Global Public Affairs blog. Thank you for your interest in our work and positions. — At Booking.com, it is our mission to make it easier for everyone to experience the world. This mission carries with it the responsibility to foster a world worth experiencing for our customers, partners, and communities. We do so by working towards a more sustainable, diverse, inclusive, secure, and fair travel…

New research shows how each European country faces its unique mix of challenges as they look to hasten the tourism sector recovery. — Tourists are back on the move in Europe. After struggling to stay afloat throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the European tourism industry is finally in recovery mode, with many local accommodation providers enjoying a more prosperous 2022 than previous years. Many are also expecting further growth in 2023.

What did we learn from the latest study by Oxford Economics about the Impact of Online Travel Agencies in Europe? — When COVID-19 hit, and global lockdowns brought the world to a halt in early 2020, the travel and tourism industry found itself among the worst affected. Yet, despite severe restrictions, online travel agencies (OTAs) continued to bring international guests to European hotels, supporting jobs and boosting GDP. So, what’s the…

Issue 1 | Twin Transition — At Booking.com Public Affairs, we are equally passionate about travel and the policies that shape it. This is why we wanted to share the inaugural edition of Check-in. Check-in is a brand new magazine that explores ideas at the intersection of society, technology and travel. Our ambition is to facilitate…

Travel is coming back after 2 years of COVID restrictions. But hoteliers now face new challenges. What are they? — Europe is the world’s top destination, where travel and tourism serve as important pillars of the continent’s economy. In the benchmark year (2019), before our industry was decimated by the global pandemic, Europe’s travel sector constituted over 9% of GDP and employed 37,820,000 people, according to the World Travel &…

The new study by Oxford Economics is out and it quantified the economic impact of platforms like Booking.com — To call Booking.com a data-driven company would be a gross understatement. We venerate facts and figures, we obsess over research, and we never run out ideas for experimentation. We do this, because, at the core, our business model is to deploy the latest technology in pursuit of our mission —…

In an increasingly globalised service industry, customer choice has never been more important. — It has been said that “strength lies in differences, not in similarities.” The diversity of the European travel and tourism ecosystem is a source of pride…