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What will Switzerland new rules for hotel booking platforms mean for travellers?

Hotel booking platforms will face certain restrictions in Switzerland and hotel websites will be able to undercut prices and conditions after a vote in parliament. What does this mean for you?

Published: 9 June 2022 16:16 CEST
Updated: 18 June 2022 08:22 CEST
A Swiss airlines flight over the Swiss Alps. Photo by Obed Tewes on Unsplash

Switzerland’s Parliament has approved restrictions on online reservation platforms, including Booking.com, Hotels.com and others, looking to protect the Swiss hotel sector.

The new rules ban the so-called “parity clauses” between hotels and booking platforms. This means that hotel websites will be allowed to offer better prices and conditions than those on aggregator websites like Booking.com.

The rule was much debated, and representatives of the booking platforms have come out against it, saying the move was “shortsighted” and did not benefit the sector. However, the hotel association HotellerieSuisse disagrees, stating the new rules give hotels “their entrepreneurial freedom back”.

What are these parity clauses?

Parity clauses are standard in many online reservation platforms and are particularly famous for Booking.com. These websites are extremely popular and have a significant market share, meaning that most travellers book through them instead of the official hotel websites.

READ ALSO: Why Switzerland won’t introduce €9 rail tickets like in Germany

In order to be featured in these “hotel Googles”, the establishments sign a contract with the website that dictates things like the amount of commission they will pay for the platform. So every time you book a hotel on Booking.com or Trivago, a percentage of the price goes to the website, not the hotel.

This is how they make money, and though some associations complain that fees have been getting way too high, those will remain the same.

The Swiss government saw an issue with the “parity clauses”, which, according to legislators, hurt competition.

READ ALSO: Six no-gimmick websites that help you save money in Switzerland

These contract clauses force hotels to always be at least in parity with prices and offer on booking websites. This means that they cannot offer cheaper stays or perks like complimentary breakfast to people booking directly on their website – the offer needs to be on par with the one on the booking platform.

What is changing then?

The Swiss Parliament voted to ban those clauses, saying they hurt competition. Hotels will then be allowed to have different (cheaper) offers and services advertised on their websites.

The ban is enshrined in a new Federal Act against Unfair Competition article.

“Today, hoteliers and hoteliers can finally breathe a sigh of relief. In recent years, they have invested significantly in digitization and expanded their direct booking offer, which will now pay off”, said HotellerieSuisse.

READ ALSO: Five beautiful Swiss villages just a short trip from Geneva

“As soon as the law comes into force, they can offer their guests the best prices on their own portal. In addition to the price, they also get their entrepreneurial freedom back via conditions and availability. They can thus make a differentiated offer.”

How do travellers benefit?

People looking for hotels will be able to have more offers. They can search online and check-in many places for different prices and booking conditions.

“It is always an advantage for customers when the competition takes place. Hoteliers must have sovereignty over all rates. Only in this way can they make better offers than the booking platforms,” said Andreas Züllig, President of HotellerieSuisse.

READ ALSO: Which flights have SWISS airlines cut ahead of the summer season?

Even if you find a hotel using a booking platform, it will be worth checking out online and seeing if fees and offers on the actual website are different – perhaps better.

With hotels looking to attract more people to book on their website, where they won’t need to pay commissions and fees, chances are that many will take advantage of the parity clause ban.

How is it in other countries?

In many countries, the parity clause still stands, and hotels are forced to keep prices equal or higher than those on the booking platforms.

READ ALSO: Switzerland proposes travellers pay for Covid boosters

However, many Swiss neighbours, including France, Italy and Austria, have already banned the clause. In Germany, court rulings after lawsuits also forbid platforms to force parity from their hotel partners.

“The Parliament’s decision, therefore, also eliminates a location disadvantage of the Swiss hotel industry and makes Switzerland a tourism location more competitive in an international context.”, added HotellerieSuisse.

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TRAVEL NEWS

Why is Switzerland going to collect a database of flight passengers?

Twenty years after the US began sharing a database of those flying in and out of the country in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Switzerland is set to follow suit - but not without some outside pressure. 

Published: 16 May 2024 15:51 CEST
Why is Switzerland going to collect a database of flight passengers?

Passenger Name Record (PNR) systems are databases that operate by flagging and tracking individuals who may pose a security risk. 

The data includes the name, destination, means of payment, and type of baggage for each passenger arriving or leaving a country via its airports. 

Until now, Switzerland has not participated in a PNR system in a way that allows data to be freely accessible to partners such as the EU and the US. 

Indeed, for years, it has been possible to circumvent the EU’s PNR systems by flying into Switzerland and crossing a land border with the EU. 

Now, however, Switzerland is being forced to comply. 

The United States has threatened Switzerland’s place in their Visa Waiver Program unless they share data. 

Similarly, the EU has applied significant diplomatic pressure to join their efforts – and considerable progress has already occurred, with agreements signed. 

Other countries have also signalled that Swiss carriers may withdraw their landing rights or impose heavy fines if Switzerland does not begin participating in a compliant PNR system. 

Changes in effect 2026

On Wednesday, Justice Minister Beat Jans announced at a press conference that a PNR program that worked in collaboration with other countries would come into effect in 2026. 

The reason given for the length of time it would take to go into effect was that a legal basis for the move does not yet exist in Swiss law—a dispatch on proposed legislation has only just been sent to the Federal Council.

Once passed by the Federal Council and then by the Council of States, the federal police will be responsible for tracking passengers via a new group – the Passenger Information Unit (PIU). 

The PIU will examine passenger manifests a day before and immediately before flights taking off or landing and compare them to shared lists of individuals involved in terrorism, organised crime, or who have committed violent crimes. 

If there is a match, information will be forwarded to authorities at the relevant airport.  

Privacy concerns 

Understandably, for the privacy-conscious Swiss, concerns have been raised. 

Both the right-wing SVP, the Greens and the SPD have voiced doubts about the security and privacy of passenger data. 

In response, the government has announced that all passenger data except for that relates to those linked to terrorist groups will be deleted after six months. 

To further ease concerns, Switzerland’s PNR system will be constantly monitored by the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner to ensure compliance with the Data Protection Act.

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