Booking.com

Our tourism sector, which is struggling amid a severe crisis, is now experiencing total chaos because of the ban on the hotel reservation website booking.com that came as the result of a case opened by the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB). 

Hoteliers from Turkey's touristic Aegean region have voiced their anger against a recent court decision against Booking.com, blasting a leading sector association that filed a case against the online reservation portal over competition concerns. 

A leading Turkish tourism association is set to send a court decision against Booking.com to similar foreign online reservation portals, including Tripadvisor.com, to ask them to comply with the required competition rules or face legal action, daily Dünya reported on March 31. 

An unusual anti-competition ruling was made by an Istanbul court this week. I am not a judicial person and will not make any comments regarding the court's decision. However, this idea deserves to be reviewed, especially in terms of its future effects, mainly over Turkey's struggling tourism and image. 

Booking.com has said it disagrees with an Istanbul court ruling to halt the activities of the Netherlands-based travel fare aggregator website in Turkey, adding that it will appeal the decision. 

The website on March 30 began to halt selling rooms in Turkey to Turkish users, one day after a court decision to block the website in the country.

An Istanbul court on March 29 ordered the suspension of the activities of Booking.com, the Netherlands-based travel fare aggregator website, in Turkey in a bid to prevent unfair competition.

More and more travellers and holidaymakers are seeking unique experiences that make them feel part of the culture and traditions of the destinations they choose to visit.

The General Secretariat for Public Revenue is investigating 1,545 hotels as regards their occupancy rates and prices. Where required, the inspectors will pose as guests to establish whether what hotels declare in terms of occupancy figures and the rates they charge are factual and whether the correct taxes are being paid.