TÜROB applies to halt the injunction on Booking.com

The Association of Turkish Hoteliers (TÜROB) today applied to the court to halt the injunction issued by the court in the lawsuit filed by TÜRSAB against Booking.com.

The Association of Turkish Hoteliers (TÜROB) has taken action to lift the injunction issued by the İstanbul 5th Commercial Court of First Instance suspending access to Booking.com in the lawsuit filed by TÜRSAB against Booking.com. TÜROB applied to the court for the injunction to be lifted. The application was made today on behalf of TÜROB by its Legal Counsel's Office.

The accommodation sector was adversely affected
In a statement on the matter, TÜROB noted that the decision to suspend the sale of Türkiye's hotels on Booking.com had left the accommodation sector, which is already going through a very difficult period, in an even more difficult situation. The statement noted that, in addition to the entire accommodation sector across Türkiye being adversely affected, this decision had suddenly cut off all the resources of, in particular, hotels in Anatolia that obtain a large part of their market share from Booking, as well as small hotels throughout Türkiye.
TÜROB's statement read: "The rule of law is unquestionable, and if Booking.com's violation of the law is established, its practices that lead to wrongful/unfair competition must be corrected. However, despite the fact that the judicial process is ongoing, the suspension of Booking.com's operations has served to punish the sector and citizens rather than Booking.com. Moreover, this decision causes a negative perception of our country to form on the international stage. Our Association, which always prioritizes the rule of law, accepts as a fundamental principle that the interests of all stakeholders in the sector must be protected at the stage of eliminating practices that violate the law."

An old correspondence was distorted

On the other hand, TÜROB clarified the remarks made by Chairman Başaran Ulusoy at the press conference held yesterday (Wednesday) by the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, in which he said, 'The Association of Turkish Hoteliers wrote us a letter of thanks.' As will be recalled, some time ago, following the lawsuit filed by TÜRSAB before the Competition Authority, due to the 'Best Price Guarantee' clause included in the contracts it concluded with accommodation businesses, the preliminary decision announced by the Competition Authority imposed a fine on Booking.com B.V. for its anti-competitive acts in the 'Best Price Guarantee' practice, and ruled that Bookingcom Destek Hizmetleri Ltd. Şti. bore no responsibility.

It was stated that the bringing up by TÜRSAB, in a malicious, deliberate and planned manner, of a correspondence that took place on January 12, 2017 on this entirely different matter regarding the said decision of the Competition Board, and linking it to the recent lawsuit, was a great misfortune and disappointment. In TÜROB's statement, which argued that the correspondence in question was thought to have been brought up deliberately, it was emphasized that the matter had been completely distorted. The statement noted that this was an effort by TÜRSAB to draw the sector to its side and to divert attention, because it had drawn strong reactions from every quarter.