Dependence on Booking and Airbnb in 2026: what the Digital Markets Act changes for direct bookings

Since September 2026, Booking.com no longer takes into account the prices you show on your own website or on other platforms when it decides which properties receive the discounts it funds itself. This is the last step in a process that began in 2024, when the European Commission designated Booking as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and price parity clauses disappeared from the platform’s contracts. The practical takeaway for a short-term rental (regim hotelier) host: you can sell for less on your own website without being penalised by Booking.com. Pricing freedom alone does not solve platform dependence, however. Commissions remain, Airbnb is not covered by these rules, and a direct booking comes with its own costs and obligations. Below you will find what has changed, how large the dependence is in Europe, what you are allowed to do on each platform, what each channel costs you and a five-step plan for more direct bookings.

What has changed: from parity clauses to the Digital Markets Act

Parity clauses oblige an accommodation provider not to offer better conditions, such as a lower price, on other channels than on the platform that imposes them. According to the Court of Justice of the European Union, Booking.com initially prohibited lower prices both on hotels’ own channels and on other platforms (“wide” parity). From 2015, a narrower version prohibited lower prices only on the hotel’s own channels, such as its website (“narrow” parity). The European Commission explains what is at stake: such clauses weaken competition between platforms and increase accommodation providers’ distribution costs.

In 2024, the framework changed in three stages. On 13 May, the Commission designated Booking Holdings as a gatekeeper for Booking.com. In July, the platform removed parity requirements from its General Delivery Terms (GDT), its contracts and its partner programmes. On 19 September, the Court of Justice ruled that parity clauses, whether wide or narrow, cannot in principle be classified as “ancillary restraints”, meaning they are not automatically justified as necessary for the platform to operate. Since 14 November 2024, Booking.com has had to comply with the DMA obligations. For hosts, the most important one is in Article 5(3):

“The gatekeeper shall not prevent business users from offering the same products or services to end users through third-party online intermediation services or through their own direct online sales channel at prices or conditions that are different from those offered through the online intermediation services of the gatekeeper.”

The next paragraph requires the gatekeeper to allow business users, free of charge, to promote offers, including under different conditions, to customers acquired through the platform or through other channels, and to conclude contracts with them. According to the Commission, the DMA prohibits any form of parity, whether it is written into a contract or achieved by other means with the same effect.

What it means in practice on Booking.com

The factsheet published by the Commission on 28 September 2026 clarifies the situation. Even before, Booking.com did not use prices on other channels for its default ranking or for eligibility for the Genius, Preferred and Preferred Plus programmes. It did, however, use them for Booking Sponsored Benefit (BSB), the programme through which the platform lowers the price shown to the customer and pays the difference itself, while the property receives its full rate and the commission stays the same. Since September 2026, external prices no longer count for BSB either. The scans of prices on other websites shown in the extranet are for information only, and the “competitive” and “non-competitive” labels have been removed, so as not to suggest that the platform expects aligned prices. Partners receive reservation-level data on the effect of BSB, as well as clearer explanations of the performance score used in the programmes and of the situations in which participation may be suspended. The changes apply to all properties in the European Economic Area (EEA).

Booking.com also confirms on its partner page that, if your property is located in the EEA, you can offer different prices, availability, inventory and booking conditions on your own website and on other websites. The commission does not change. According to Booking.com’s partner help pages, it is a percentage of the total booking value, including additional fees such as cleaning, set by your contract, and marketing programmes such as Preferred Partner or Visibility Booster add a percentage on top of the base rate. Booking.com does not charge commission on local taxes such as city tax, but in most countries it also applies it to VAT. For a no-show you pay no commission if you mark it in the extranet within 48 hours of check-out and waive the cancellation fee.

Airbnb: different rules, the same question

Airbnb is not on the list of gatekeepers, so the DMA obligations do not apply to it. Its relationship with hosts is governed by the platform’s terms and by its Off-Platform and Fee Transparency Policy, and repeated or severe violations can lead to the suspension or deactivation of listings or of the account. Among other things, the policy prohibits:

• encouraging guests to move current, future or repeat bookings, including extensions, off Airbnb;
• links that take people off the platform, in listings or in messages;
• discounts for booking off Airbnb, and cancelling a reservation to rebook it elsewhere;
• requesting, sending or receiving payments outside Airbnb for bookings and related fees;
• using guests’ contact information for marketing or signing them up for contact lists.

On Airbnb, then, you cannot turn a guest into a direct customer by inviting them to your website. What you can do is make sure they remember you: an excellent experience, a name that is easy to find on Google and the same identity on every channel. Meanwhile, the cost of the channel is changing too: Airbnb is moving to a single 15.5% fee paid entirely by the host, and hosts in the EEA and Switzerland have until 13 October 2026 to adjust their prices. A host who is not registered for VAT also pays Romanian VAT of 21% on the fee, for a total of about 18.8% of the rate.

How dependent the market is: what the figures show

The most complete dataset on hotel distribution in Europe is the study by HOTREC, the European association of hotels, restaurants and cafés, carried out by Professor Roland Schegg (HES-SO Valais-Wallis) and published in September 2026. The study covers 2025 and is based on 2,713 hotels: 1,882 individual responses from 28 countries and aggregated data from 831 chain hotels. Direct bookings (phone, email, own website or walk-in) generated 51.3% of overnight stays, down from 57.6% in 2013, while online intermediaries rose from 22.2% to 32.3%. Concentration is high: Booking Holdings holds 68.8% of bookings made through online travel agencies, and Expedia Group 16.6%.

The differences between countries are large. Italy has the highest share of direct bookings (64%), while Hungary (39.8%) and Spain (35.2%) depend most on online travel agencies. In Greece, online travel agencies bring in 27% of overnight stays, and tour operators and travel agencies another 25.4%. Half of the hotels (51%) say that online travel agencies have frequently or occasionally displayed prices lower than their own rates. The authors sum up what is at stake: the question is no longer only how much online travel agencies cost, but how much control hotels retain over prices, data, payments, inventory and the guest relationship.

Source: HOTREC, European Hotel Distribution Study 2026. The European figures are weighted, while those for Spain and Greece come from the national samples. Romania appears in the sample with few responses and has no separate results.

The study covers hotels, not apartments, and there is no public statistic on booking channels for short-term rentals in Romania. Eurostat data do show, however, how much goes through the platforms: in 2025, Romania recorded 10.37 million guest nights in accommodation booked via Airbnb, Booking and Expedia, just over half of them by foreign tourists. The tools for selling direct exist: in the survey presented together with the “White Charter of Romanian Tourism 2026” (Carta Albă a Turismului din România 2026), more than 80% of the responding tourism companies said they have their own website. A website does not bring in bookings on its own, though. Price, trust and visibility in search make the difference.

Competition authorities have not closed the matter

The changes Booking.com made after its dialogue with the Commission are voluntary and do not affect the proceedings opened by the competition authorities of Greece, Italy and Spain, with which the Commission says it has cooperated.

Spain. On 30 July 2024, the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) fined Booking.com €413.24 million for abusing its dominant position, at a time when its market share in Spain ranged between 70% and 90%. The authority found that Booking.com prohibited hotels in Spain from offering lower prices on their own websites while reserving the right to lower prices unilaterally, that in disputes it imposed the English version of the GDT, Dutch law and the courts of Amsterdam, and that it gave better positioning to hotels generating more bookings on Booking.com. According to the CNMC, this criterion prevented other online travel agencies from entering the market or expanding.

Italy. On 22 April 2026, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) opened an investigation into unfair commercial practices. The authority suspects that Booking.com presents properties in the Preferred Partner and Preferred Plus programmes as selected for their quality and value for money, even though selection appears to favour properties that pay higher commissions. According to Reuters, Booking.com responded that the programmes are optional and comply with the law.

Greece. On 8 July 2026, the Hellenic Competition Commission market-tested the commitments proposed by Booking.com. The authority’s preliminary concern is that the combined effect of the default ranking, the Preferred and Preferred Plus programmes and BSB gives hoteliers an incentive to offer better conditions on Booking.com than on competing platforms, to the detriment of the latter. On 28 September 2026, the authority stated that Booking.com’s new transparency measures do not prejudge the outcome of its proceedings and that it will decide on the commitments in the coming months.

The Netherlands. At the Amsterdam District Court, the Stichting Hotel Claims Alliance foundation, backed by HOTREC and more than 30 national associations, is coordinating a collective action in which hotels are claiming damages for the parity clauses used between 2004 and 2024. The action started on 30 January 2026 with 3,087 hotels and had reached 10,783 by the end of July. Booking.com believes the claims are “incorrect and unjustified”.

What each channel really costs you

Commission is the most visible cost, but not the only one. Compare channels by the net amount you collect for the same night and by what you get in return.

A hypothetical calculation shows the difference for a net amount of €100 per night:

The difference is not pure profit: out of it you pay for the booking engine, promotion and the time you spend on guests and invoices. Our recommendation is not to pass the whole difference on in your price, but to offer a slightly lower direct rate or a concrete benefit, such as a later check-out. For Booking.com, do the same calculation with the percentage in your contract. We showed how costs affect your margin in our analysis of rising costs and flat rates, and to see whether your price is realistic for the area, compare it with similar listings in KeyBid Puls.

What you need before promoting direct bookings

A guest who books direct expects instant confirmation, secure payment and clear rules, and you are now responsible for all of them. The details are in our guide to your own website and direct bookings. In short, check the following:

A five-step plan for more direct bookings

The steps below are our recommendations. The goal is not to give up the platforms, but to avoid depending on just one.

1. Measure. For the last 12 months, record the bookings, nights and net revenue from each channel. Without this starting point, you cannot tell whether your strategy is working.
2. Build the foundation. A fast website with good photos, clear prices and a booking engine connected to the platforms’ calendars.
3. Make yourself easy to find. Accurate property details in Google results, genuine reviews, free booking links and the same information on every channel. Find out how to build a clear competitive argument in our guide to differentiation.
4. Build a guest base legally. On your website, ask for consent to receive offers at the time of booking. On Booking.com, the DMA allows you to promote offers to guests who came through the platform, but data protection rules still apply, so send offers only to those who have given their consent. On Airbnb, follow the platform’s policy.
5. Test your prices. Try a slightly lower direct rate or a concrete benefit, and track occupancy and net revenue on each channel for a few weeks.

Google and AI agents: a new channel, the same questions

Google shows vacation rentals free of charge, and its free booking links send users straight to your website, with no fees for referrals or bookings. These links are not ads, and no one can pay for better placement. To appear, you need an integration that sends your rates, availability and photos to Google, so check whether your booking engine or channel manager offers one. Online travel agencies selling the same property may also appear next to your website. In the HOTREC study, 58% of hotels are connected to meta-search platforms, and 83% of these use Google Hotel Ads.

On 27 August 2026, Google announced hotel booking directly in AI Mode, the conversational mode of Search. The feature has started rolling out in the United States, in English, and the announced partners are hotel chains and online travel agencies: Booking.com, Choice Hotels, Expedia, Hilton, Hotels.com, IHG, Marriott, Priceline, Trip.com and Wyndham. Payment is made through Google Pay, and the hotel or booking platform remains the seller. Google notes that some of the features announced are not available in the EEA.

In the medium term, Google wants these bookings to run on the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard for commerce through AI agents. The first working draft of the lodging specification was published on 25 September 2026, with input from Amadeus, Booking.com, Expedia, Google, Hilton, Marriott and Trip.com. According to Google, the property remains the merchant of record and keeps its customer data, and the integration does not influence ranking. The first phase covers single-room bookings, and no date has been announced for AI Mode’s move to UCP.

Our interpretation: AI agents may reduce dependence on the platforms, but not automatically, because the large online travel agencies are among the first partners and are helping to write the rules. For a small host in Romania, the realistic step is to make sure the information about the property is correct, complete and identical on the website, on Google and on the platforms. The details are in our guide to agentic search.

Common mistakes

• Believing the DMA lowered the commission. The commission is still the one in your contract. Only the freedom to set prices on other channels has changed.
• Asking Airbnb guests to book direct next time. The platform’s policy prohibits it, and repeated or severe violations can lead to the suspension of your account.
• Passing the whole commission difference on in your price. You are left with no budget for promotion, and a website does not bring in bookings on its own.
• Launching the website without a synchronised calendar. A double booking damages your reviews on every channel.
• Adding guests to email lists without their consent. You break data protection rules and, on Airbnb, the platform’s policy as well.

Frequently asked questions

Can I show a lower price on my website than on Booking.com?

Yes, if the property is located in the EEA. Booking.com removed parity clauses in July 2024, and the DMA prohibits it from preventing you from selling at different prices or on different terms through other channels. External prices do not count for the default ranking or for the visibility programmes, and since September 2026 they do not count for Booking Sponsored Benefit either.

Does the DMA lower the Booking.com commission?

No. It is still the percentage in your contract, plus that of the programmes you take part in. BSB does not change it either: the platform lowers the price for the customer out of its own pocket, and you receive your full rate.

Can I ask Airbnb guests to book direct next time?

No. Airbnb is not covered by the DMA, and its policy prohibits encouraging current, future or repeat bookings off the platform, as well as using guests’ contact information for marketing. Repeated or severe violations can lead to the suspension or deactivation of the account.

Can I get bookings from Google without paying commission?

Yes, through free booking links, for which Google charges no fees. You do need a website with a booking engine and an integration with Google, which may have its own cost. Booking in AI Mode is currently available only in the United States, through large partners.