OTAs miss out on European digital gatekeeper list
Europe: Online travel agencies [OTAs] have failed to meet the thresholds to be considered digital ‘gatekeepers’ as part of the European Digital Markets Act [DMA], for the time being at least.
Booking.com expected to cut 3000 jobs worldwide
Amsterdam: Online travel agency Booking.com has announced that it plans to cut up to 3000 jobs worldwide due to a reorganisation of the company
Booking to repay $110m in Covid aid to governments
Netherlands / US: Online travel agency Booking Holdings has revealed it will repay up to $110 million in coronavirus aid to governments who supported the company during the height of the pandemic. including around $78 million [€64 million] to the Dutch government over an executive pay row. Booking announced it would repay the aid in a […]
Booking Holdings’ gross bookings plummeted 91 per cent in Q2
US / Netherlands: In the week that online travel agency Booking.com announced a 25 per cent trimming of its global workforce, parent company Booking Holdings has published its highly-anticipated second quarter results leading up to 30 June 2020, which highlight the devastating impact the coronavirus has had on its business. On the company’s earnings conference […]
Booking.com to slash 25 per cent of global workforce
US / Netherlands: Four months after Booking.com chief executive Glenn Fogel admitted company job cuts were “probable”, the online travel agency has announced an extensive round of layoffs, with 25 per cent [roughly 4000 employees] believed to be affected. The layoffs are symptomatic of the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the global travel industry, including accommodation […]
UK to remove quarantines from select destinations from 10 July
UK: In a shift from earlier policy, the Department for Transport has announced that people arriving back in England from more than 50 countries, including European destinations such as France, Spain, Italy and Germany, will no longer need to self-isolate in quarantine from 10 July [Friday]. The new exemptions refer to countries which are deemed to post a […]
Booking.com fined record £6.1m for “unfair business practices” in Hungary
Budapest: Online travel agency Booking.com has been fined 2.5 billion forints [£6.1 million] by the national competition watchdog in Hungary, the GVH, for “misleading advertisements” and “aggressive” sales tactics, designed to exert “psychological pressure” on consumers. A probe was launched on the Amsterdam-based company’s platform as far back as 2018 when its income in fees drew […]
Booking.com plans for lay offs after landing $4bn loan
Netherlands: Online travel agent Booking.com has told employees in an internal memo that layoffs from the company are “probable”, just days after the Financial Times reported it had received a $4 billion loan in bonds from investors to fend off severe effects caused by the coronavirus crisis. In a video conference held with hundreds of […]
Booking.com CEO addresses company’s future in employee letter
US: In a letter to his company’s employees, Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel has outlined the company’s coronavirus strategy. The company, which owns leading OTA Booking.com has committed to cutting spending, salaries, and implementing a company-wide hiring freeze. Fogel said: “This is not the first major disruption to travel we have endured as a business, […]
Booking.com appoints pair as chairwoman and CEO
Worldwide: Booking Holdings has announced the appointment of Gillian Tans as chairwoman of Booking.com and Glenn Fogel as the CEO of Booking.com. In the latter’s case, Fogel has served as the CEO and president of Booking Holdings but will now take on an expanded role at the head of Booking.com. Both appointments are effective immediately. […]