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.
This content was published on
A 36-year-old man from Ticino lost his life on Saturday in Val Malvaglia, in the north of canton Ticino, during a wingsuit jump from a plane.
Swiss Evangelical Reformed Church numbers dropping in French-speaking Switzerland
This content was published on
As in German-speaking Switzerland, the number of members of the Reformed Church in French-speaking Switzerland is also declining.
Gotthard traffic queue hits 20km during holiday weekend
This content was published on
The traffic jam at the Gotthard north portal reached a length of 20 kilometres on the motorway between canton Nidwalden and canton Uri.
Swiss Interior Minister visits Cannes Film Festival
This content was published on
Swiss Interior Minister left the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday after three days of intensive dialogue, meetings and film screenings.
Swiss theatre director breaks with tradition at Vienna’s Rathausplatz
This content was published on
With the proclamation of the "Free Republic of Vienna", the start of the festival on Friday evening was unusually political.
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.
Read more
More
Swiss price watchdog has reservations about Booking.com
This content was published on
The Swiss price watchdog has initiated proceedings against Booking.com, the online travel fare aggregator, after finding signs of “price abuse”.
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.