Booking.com

Booking.com
Screenshot
Type of business Subsidiary
Type of site
 Booking service
Available in 43 languages
Founded 1996 (1996)
Enschede, Netherlands
Headquarters Amsterdam, Netherlands
Area served Global
Owner Booking Holdings
CEO Gillian Tans
Key people Gillian Tans (CEO)
Parent Booking Holdings
Subsidiaries Booking.com Consulting Services Pte. Ltd.
Website booking.com
Alexa rank 95 (As of 21 July 2018)[1]
Commercial Yes
Registration Optional
Launched 1996 (1996)
Current status Online

Booking.com is a travel fare aggregator website and travel metasearch engine for lodging reservations. It is owned and operated by and is the primary revenue source of United States-based Booking Holdings. Booking.com is headquartered in Amsterdam.[2]

The website has more than 28,889,846 listings in 137,971 destinations in 229 countries and territories worldwide. Each day more than 1,550,000 room nights are reserved on the website.[3] The site is available in 43 languages.[3]. Their slogan is "Homes, houses and everything in between", although in commercials it is "Booking.com: Booking.yeah".

History

Booking.com was formed when bookings.nl, founded in 1996 by Geert-Jan Bruinsma, merged in 2000 with Bookings Online, founded by Sicco and Alec Behrens, Marijn Muyser and Bas Lemmens, which operated as Bookings.org. The name and URL were changed to Booking.com and Stef Noorden was appointed as its CEO. In 1997, Bruinsma wanted to post an ad in De Telegraaf, the Dutch newspaper with the highest circulation. The ad was rejected since De Telegraaf only accepted ads with the phone number, not with a website. In 2002, Expedia refused to buy bookings.nl.[4][5]

In July 2005, the company was acquired by Booking Holdings (or Priceline Group, as it was named at the time) for USD133 million, and later it cooperated with ActiveHotels.com, a European online hotel reservation company, purchased by Booking Holdings/Priceline for USD161 million.[6]

In 2006, Active Hotels Limited officially changed its name to Booking.com Limited.[7] The integration successfully helped its parent improve its financial position from a loss of US$19 million in 2002 to US$1.1 billion in profit in 2011. This acquisition was praised by some social media as “the best acquisition in Internet history” since no other acquisition in the digital travel market had been shown to be as profitable.[8]

Darren Huston was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Booking.com in September 2011 by its parent company,[9] and also served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Booking Holdings since 1 January 2014[10] until his resignation on 28 April 2016 after an at-work relationship was revealed.[11] Huston was the former executive of Microsoft Corporation, the largest software company in the world in 2003. Later he served as President and Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft Japan from 2005 and Microsoft Corporation’s Corporate Vice President, Consumer & Online from 2008.[9]

Corporate affairs

One of Booking.com's satellite offices in Amsterdam

Marketing

Partnerships and agreements

In August 2012, Ctrip, a Chinese online travel company, formed a partnership with the company to allow Ctrip to access Booking.com's global portfolio.[12] The partnership was deepened in June 2018.[13]

In February 2013, Panorama Group, Indonesia’s largest tour and travel company, formed a strategic partnership with Booking.com to access Booking.com’s portfolio of hotels.[14]

In 2014, Sprylogics International Corporation, which provides local mobile solutions for consumers as well as mobile applications, signed an agreement with Booking.com so that Sprylogics’ Poynt App and Poynt-Enabled SDK would be able to use the extensive hotel data of Booking.com.[15]

In October 2014, Ural Airlines formed a partnership with Booking.com.[16]

Advertising

Booking.com and its sister companies were the top spender in the travel & tourism category for Google Adwords in 2016, spending $3.5 billion.[17]

In January 2013, Booking.com’s first brand campaign, ‘Booking.yeah’, was launched online, aired on television stations and in movie theaters and on TV networks, for the U.S. market with advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam.[18] In September 2013, Australia became the second market to view the campaign.[19] In January 2014, the company launched an advertising campaign in Canada,[20] in February 2014 the company launched an advertising campaign in the U.K.[21][22] and in July 2014, the company launched an advertising campaign in Germany.[23]

Operation

Applications development

In November 2010, the company launched a hotel and lodging mobile app for the iPad.[24]

In February 2011, the company launched its mobile app on Android.[24]

In April 2012, the company launched the first global last-minute hotel app, ‘Booking.com Tonight’, designed for iPhone and iPod Touch.[25]

In October 2012, the company launched its first app for Microsoft Windows, using Windows 8.[26]

In October 2012, the company updated the version of the iPhone app with a new function, Passbook.[27]

In December 2012, the company launched its Kindle Fire app, which is available for download in all Amazon’s Appstores including the U.S., U.K., Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Japan.[28]

In July 2015, the company launched an improved Android mobile app.[29]

Controversy and criticism

Complaints by customers

Booking.com's Better Business Bureau (BBB) profile [30] lists 657 customer complaints and 17 negative reviews, mostly citing poor service as well as advertising and billing issues. Many of the complaints are actually in regards to the property the guest has booked, and Booking.com mediates a resolution between the two.

Anti-competitive allegations by OFT

In September 2012, the United Kingdom's competition authority, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), issued a statement of objections against Booking.com, Expedia, and IHG Army Hotels. The OFT alleged that Booking.com and Expedia had entered into separate arrangements with IHG which restricted the online travel agent's ability to discount the price of room only hotel accommodation. Booking.com, Expedia and IHG proposed the OFT to change their restrictions. The OFT accepted the proposal, but it was later rejected by a higher authority at a tribunal.[31][32]

Investigation of Ukranian hotels

In March 2014, Booking.com sent a request to Ukrainian and Crimean hotels to clarify if they had connections to Viktor Yanukovych and 17 other Ukrainians upon whom the European Union had imposed sanctions. The company is prohibited from carrying out business with sanctioned individuals.[33]

Leaks of customer data

In November 2014, it was revealed that criminals were able to obtain customer details from the website. Booking.com said it was countering the fraudsters and refunding customers from the UK, US, France, Italy, the UAE and Portugal, all of which had been affected. Since the fraud, Booking.com has made changes so data can only be accessed from a computer linked to the hotel's server. Its teams have also worked to "take down" dozens of phishing sites, as well as working with some banks to freeze the money mule bank accounts.[34]

The website was again targeted by hackers in June 2018.[35][36][37]

Brand hijacking accusations by German hotelier

In February 2015, an open letter published by German hotelier Marco Nussbaum, co-founder and CEO of the "prizeotel" budget-design hotel brand, was highly critical of Booking.com's "brand hijacking" activity. His letter outlined details relating to Booking.com's use of Google Adwords, and how it was doing damage to his business. The letter was discussed in specialist media and led to a debate concerning current difficulties and challenges for online distribution within the hotel industry.[38]

Prohibitions against offering lower rates

In April 2015, French, Swedish and Italian competition authorities accepted a proposal by Booking.com to drop its "rate parity" clause and thereby allow competitor travel agents to offer lower hotel prices than Booking.com.[39] Booking.com further agreed to extend and apply its proposal across all EU states[40] Hotels are still prevented from discounting prices directly on their own websites.[41]

Allegations of market dominance

In April 2015, The European Union warned that Booking.com is one of several internet firms that may have reached market dominance beyond the point of no return.[42]

Violations of Turkish competition law

In March 2017, a Turkish court halted activities of Booking.com due to a violation of Turkish competition law.[43][44] Booking.com halted selling rooms in Turkey to Turkish users, obeying the order to block the website. However, the website and application can be used from foreign countries to make reservations for hotels in Turkey.[45]

Consideration by Russia of blocking the site

In May 2018, Russia considered a ban on Booking.com as one of many countermeasures to US sanctions on Russia.[46]

References

  1. ↑ "Booking.com Site Info". Alexa Internet.
  2. ↑ Harger, Jim (25 August 2015). "Booking.com signs 10-year lease for its growing global contact center in Wyoming". Advance Publications.
  3. 1 2 "Booking.com: About Booking.com". Booking.com.
  4. ↑ Schaal, Dennis (2016). "The Definitive oral history of online travel". Skift.
  5. ↑ Schaal, Dennis (2018). "The Oral History of Travel's Greatest Acquisition: Booking.com". Skift.
  6. ↑ Schaal, Dennis (25 June 2012). "How Booking.com turned the other OTAs into converts". Skift.
  7. ↑ "Active Hotels becomes Booking.com". 19 October 2009.
  8. ↑ "Booking.com, the best acquisition in Internet history". Hotel Marketing. 12 September 2012.
  9. 1 2 "Darren Huston Named Chief Executive Officer of Booking.com" (Press release). 26 September 2011.
  10. ↑ "Darren Huston Named as President and CEO of the Priceline Group" (Press release). Booking.com. 7 November 2013.
  11. ↑ "Priceline Group CEO Darren Huston Resigns; Chairman Jeffery H. Boyd Appointed Interim CEO" (Press release). PR Newswire. April 28, 2016.
  12. ↑ "CTRIP and Booking.com Forge Global Travel Partnership" (Press release). Booking.com. 7 August 2012.
  13. ↑ "Ctrip and Booking Holdings "Deepen" Partnership Despite Competition". Jing Travel. June 12, 2018.
  14. ↑ Mimil, Hudoyo (20 February 2013). "Panorama and Booking.com launch international hotel reservation site".
  15. ↑ "Booking.com to integrate parking hotel data into Poynt" (Press release). 20 February 2013.
  16. ↑ "Ural Airlines has begun working with Booking.com". rusbiznews.com. 6 October 2014.
  17. ↑ "Google can rejoice: Priceline Group spent $3.5 billion on PPC in 2016". Tnooz. February 28, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Booking.com Launches 'Booking.yeah', Its First-Ever Brand Campaign, Created for the U.S. market" (Press release). Booking.com. 22 January 2013.
  19. ↑ Ricki (16 September 2013). "Booking.com launches first-ever Australian brand campaign with Mick Molloy via W+K Amsterdam".
  20. ↑ "Booking.com Launches First Canadian Brand Campaign". Booking.com. 22 January 2014.
  21. ↑ Swift, James (February 17, 2014). "Booking.com launches first UK brand campaign". Campaign.
  22. ↑ Davies, Jessica (February 18, 2014). "Booking.com launches first UK TV campaign to inspire British travellers". The Drum.
  23. ↑ "Booking.com ramps up European push with German branding campaign". Hotel Marketing. July 17, 2014.
  24. 1 2 Scott, Jennifer (27 February 2013). "Booking.com embraces mobile apps". Computer Weekly.
  25. ↑ "Booking.com Launches First Global Last-Minute Hotel App" (Press release). Booking.com. 10 April 2012.
  26. ↑ "Booking.com Joins Windows 8 Push with Launch of its First Windows App" (Press release). Booking.com. 29 October 2012.
  27. ↑ "Booking.com Enables Passbook on Latest Release of iPhone App" (Press release). Booking.com. 16 October 2012.
  28. ↑ "Booking.com Launches Native Kindle Fire App" (Press release). Booking.com. 6 December 2012.
  29. ↑ "Booking.com continues to revolutionize the on-demand travel space with the launch of Booking Now for Android" (Press release). Booking.com. July 17, 2015.
  30. ↑ "BBB Accredited Business Review Booking.com USA, Inc". Better Business Bureau.
  31. ↑ "Skyscanner wins appeal, UK watchdog to rethink OTA hotel rate clubs". Tnooz. September 26, 2014.
  32. ↑ "Investigation into the hotel online booking sector". Office of Fair Trading.
  33. ↑ Kulchitskaya, Diana (21 March 2014). "Booking.Com Investigates Hotels for Links to Sanctioned Ukrainians". The Moscow Times.
  34. ↑ Howard, Bob (7 November 2014). "Scammers target leading online travel agent Booking.com". BBC News.
  35. ↑ WHITEHEAD, JOANNA (4 June 2018). "Customers were targeted by phishing emails and instructed to provide payment details". The Independent.
  36. ↑ Jarvis, David (3 June 2018). "BOOKING DOT CON Hackers target Booking.com in criminal bid to steal hundreds of thousands from customers". The Sun.
  37. ↑ MALLINSON, HARRIET (4 June 2018). "Booking.com customers targeted by hackers in WhatsApp and text scam". Daily Express.
  38. ↑ "Brand hijacking – Open letter to booking.com".
  39. ↑ Vidalon, Dominique (21 April 2015). "France, Sweden, Italy accept booking.com antitrust proposals". Reuters.
  40. ↑ "DECISION" (PDF). Swedish Competition Authority. April 15, 2015.
  41. ↑ "Hoteliers claim Booking.com parity agreement still wrong and anti-competitive". Tnooz.
  42. ↑ Hern, Alex (24 April 2015). "EU warns of 'point of no return' if internet firms are not regulated soon". The Guardian.
  43. ↑ "A Turkish Court Has Temporarily Shut Down Booking.com". Fortune. Reuters. March 29, 2017.
  44. ↑ Solaker, Gulsen (March 29, 2017). "Turkish court halts activities of Booking.com over breach of competition law: association". Reuters.
  45. ↑ "Turkish travel association seeks to extend Booking.com ban to Airbnb, Expedia, Skyscanner". hurriyetdailynews. August 8, 2018.
  46. ↑ "Russia Considers Ban of Booking.com Over U.S. Sanctions". The Moscow Times. May 23, 2018.
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