Online travel agent buy-out approved
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has just announced it will not block the planned acquisition of Wotif.com by American OTA Expedia.
In its verdict, ACCC chairman Rod Sims said the competition watchdog had considered the concerns raised by the market and its possible impact on commission levels for accommodation providers applied to online travel agents due to there being less players.
“However, the ACCC found that there has been considerable change in the competitive dynamics of the online accommodation distribution market in recent years. This has included the entry of a number of competitors and business models, including Booking.com, which has grown quickly to become the largest OTA in Australia,” he said.
Sims added that metasearch websites “increasingly faciliate hotels’ ability to promote themselves alongside OTAs, and transact directly with consumers.”
“The ACCC considered that the acquisition was unlikely to diminish the dynamic nature of the industry,” Sims said.
Further reasoning for the regulator’s decision will be made public in a forthcoming Public Competition Assessment.
For more details, see today’s issue of Travel Daily.