In a second case of alleged price fixing, discount hotel website Skoosh.com has written publicly to the Canadian Competition Bureau (C.B.C.) urging it to review its claims of anti-competitive behaviour in the Canadian hotel market.
After the announcement last week by the Office of Fair Trading (O.F.T.), the United Kingdom’s competition bureau, that it will be investigating claims of price fixing in the online travel market, Skoosh.com has additionally urged the C.B.C. to review a similar case in Canada.
In an open letter published on the company’s blog, Skoosh director Dorian Harris, requested the C.B.C. to look again at the state of the country’s hotel industry before waiting for a conclusion to the case in the U.K., noting ‘if you wait until it is finalised it may be too late to rescue the Canadian hotel market’.
In the new claims, Harris has named Delta and SilverBirch Hotels, two of Canada’s major hotel chains, as potentially in breach of competition law. No statement has yet been made by the Canadian Competition Bureau.
Last week the O.F.T. announced that it is ‘conducting a formal investigation into suspected breaches of competition law in the hotel online booking sector and has written to a number of parties in the industry to request information’, further noting that ‘the investigation is at a very early stage and the OFT will not be in a position to conclude whether it considers the law has been infringed until it has completed its investigation and assessed the available evidence’.
If the OFT finds that the Competition Act has been breached, they can impose up to 10% of the company’s turnover in penalties. An InterContinental Hotels Group spokeswoman confirmed that they have been requested to turn in information, which they will comply with. Online booking agents are also being asked for information, according to a source, while the British Hospitality Association says they haven’t been contacted by the regulator.
Media contacts
Dorian Harris: 01273 731457
press@skoosh.com
www.skoosh.com
Logos, product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
