Booking.com Implements New Parity Provisions in Germany

PR60543

AMSTERDAM, May 19, 2015 / PRN=KYODO JBN / --

    - New Provisions Follow Recent Commitments Accepted in France, Italy and

Sweden

    Today Booking.com, an operating business of The Priceline Group [NASDAQ:

PCLN] announced it will waive enforcement of its existing wide parity

provisions with German accommodations with immediate effect and will amend its

standard terms and other agreements with German accommodations by 1 July 2015

to be consistent with the binding commitments given to the French, Italian and

Swedish National Competition Authorities.

    As a result, German hotels, and consumers booking at German hotels, will

get the same benefits as their counterparts in France, Italy and Sweden. Under

the new provisions, Booking.com will abandon its price, availability and

booking conditions parity provisions with respect to other online travel

agencies. This will create an environment that supports increased transparency

and competition among online travel agencies which will ultimately benefit

consumers, as well as hoteliers, by encouraging properties to offer different

pricing and booking policies (e.g. free cancellation, WIFI, breakfast) through

different online travel agencies.

    Booking.com intends to implement these commitments throughout the European

Economic Area and is working with all other European National Competition

Authorities towards this objective. Booking.com is seeking to achieve an

industry wide solution which all major online travel agencies and European

Competition Authorities will endorse.

    About Booking.com

[http://www.booking.com/?aid=354544&utm_source=PR&utm_medium=email_pr&utm_campaign=22_01_2013 ] :

    Booking.com is the world leader in booking hotel and other accommodations

online. It guarantees the best prices for any type of property - from small

independents to five-star luxury. Guests can access the Booking.com website

anytime, anywhere from their desktops, mobile phones and tablet devices, and

they don't pay booking fees - ever. The Booking.com website is available in 42

languages, offers over 625,000 hotels and accommodations including more than

245,000 vacation rental properties and covers over 75,000 destinations in 212+

countries and territories worldwide. It features over 47 million reviews

written by guests after their stay, and attracts online visitors from both

leisure and business markets around the globe. With over 17 years of experience

and a team of over 8,600 dedicated employees in 155+ offices worldwide,

Booking.com operates its own in-house customer service team, which is available

24/7 to assist guests in their native languages and ensure an exceptional

customer experience.

    Established in 1996, Booking.com B.V. owns and operates Booking.com(TM),

and is part of The Priceline Group (NASDAQ: PCLN). Follow us on Twitter,

Google+ and Pinterest, like us on Facebook, or learn more at

http://www.booking.com .

Source: Booking.com