Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Hotel booking platforms to face legal restrictions

Tablet with hotel booking platform
Booking.com says it levies a 12% fee on reservations made over its online platform for a variety of services including promotion. © Keystone/Gaetan Bally

Parliament has approved restrictions on online reservation platforms to protect the Swiss hotel sector.

Senators on Wednesday came out in favour of a legal reform to fight unfair competition.

In line with the House of Representatives, the Senate approved proposals to allow hotel websites to undercut prices and other conditions offered by booking platforms.

Supporters said the reform would help smaller hotels in Switzerland against increasing international competitors, including the market leader, booking.com.

Opponents tried to thwart the amendment, saying the restrictions were not justified and hampered innovative firms.

During the debate, Economics Minister Guy Parmelin warned of imposing too many conditions for booking platforms active in the hotel sector.

The CEO of booking.com, Glenn Fogel, rejected allegations that the online platform demanded excessive fees for its customer services provided, including promotion.

Hotels which pushed for restrictions were acting shortsightedly, and they would not benefit from the amendment, he told the Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper earlier this week.

News

Boulevard Carl-Vogt in Geneva.

More

Geneva decides not to remove controversial memorials

This content was published on The city of Geneva has presented an action plan regarding a series of controversial local statues and monuments of historical figures linked to racism, colonialism or slavery.

Read more: Geneva decides not to remove controversial memorials
a doctor retrieves an egg with help from an ultrasound scan and a needle inserted into a woman who is laying on her back with legs held open. nurses assist in the background.

More

Swiss are open to assisted reproduction

This content was published on A majority of Swiss citizens have open attitudes towards various infertility treatments, including even egg donation, which is currently prohibited.

Read more: Swiss are open to assisted reproduction

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR