{"id":2085,"date":"2026-08-22T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/destinalytics.com\/can-you-offer-a-lower-price-on-your-website-than-on-otas\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T13:19:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T11:19:45","slug":"lower-price-on-website-vs-otas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/destinalytics.com\/en\/lower-price-on-website-vs-otas\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Offer a Lower Price on Your Website Than on OTAs?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you manage a hotel or non-hotel accommodation (such as a vacation rental or B&B), you have likely asked yourself this question dozens of times: \u201cCan I publish a lower price on my website compared to OTAs, or do I risk penalties and sanctions?\u201d<\/mark><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a completely understandable doubt. For years, the fear of “displeasing” online booking giants has held back many property managers from taking control of their direct channels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we clear things up once and for all: looking directly at the laws and contracts, we give you the definitive answer <\/strong>and explain how to proceed in complete safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1<\/span>Airbnb and Rate Parity: what do the terms of service say?<\/a><\/span><\/div>
2<\/span>Booking.com and the \u201cRate and Condition Parity\u201d clause<\/a><\/span><\/div>
3<\/span>The legal turning point in Italy: the 2017 Competition Law<\/a><\/span><\/div>
4<\/span>The European context: the Digital Markets Act and clause 2.2.6<\/a><\/span><\/div>
5<\/span>The definitive answer: is it legal to sell for less on your own website?<\/a><\/span><\/div>
6<\/span>How to manage a direct pricing strategy intelligently<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Airbnb and Rate Parity: what do the terms of service say?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First of all, it must be said that not all OTAs are created equal: or rather, there are platforms born as Online Travel Agencies,<\/em> like Booking.com<\/strong>, and those born as sharing economy<\/em> platforms, like Airbnb<\/strong> (even if distinguishing them today is practically impossible).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Airbnb’s Terms of Service<\/a> for hosts, there is no clause forcing you to offer “equal or better” prices compared to your website or other channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, Section 4.1 explicitly states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cAs a Host [\u2026] you are in control of how you host: you set your price, availability, and rules for each Listing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, Airbnb does not monitor at all whether your property\u2019s price is lower on your website<\/strong>, on Booking, or anywhere else, and it applies no penalties if you sell for less elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Booking.com and the \u201cRate and Condition Parity\u201d clause<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The story changes slightly for traditional OTAs, such as Booking.com. In fact, in Booking.com\u2019s contract, <\/a>which we all accept (more or less consciously), clause 2.2.1 states: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe Accommodation Provider guarantees Booking.com ‘Rate and Condition Parity’, meaning equal or better rates <\/strong>for the same Accommodation Provider, room type, dates, bed type, number of guests, same (or better) included and additional services (e.g., free breakfast, Wi-Fi, early check-in \/ late check-out), and same (or better) restrictions and policies<\/strong>, such as booking modifications and cancellation policy, compared to those made available by the Accommodation Provider.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This is the so-called \u201cRate Parity.\u201d <\/mark>Put simply, accommodation properties that have a website or promote themselves through other channels were not allowed to offer more advantageous rates than those listed on Booking.com. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legal turning point in Italy: the 2017 Competition Law<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But here comes the good news. In Italy, as far back as 2017, the Market and Competition Law came into force ( Legge n. 124\/2017, Articolo 1, Comma 166 <\/a>) which explicitly reads:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cAny agreement by which a tourism-accommodation business undertakes not to offer end customers\u2014by any means or instrument\u2014prices, terms, and any other conditions that are more favorable than those offered by the same business through third parties shall be null and void, regardless of the law governing the contract.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

What does this mean? <\/strong>That any clause in Booking.com, Expedia, or other OTA contracts requiring an Italian property not to offer lower prices on its own website (or other channels) was outlawed under national law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The European context: the Digital Markets Act and clause 2.2.6<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Not only that. In 2022, the European Union passed the Digital Markets Act<\/a> (DMA), a law created to make markets in the digital sector fairer and more contestable. The DMA establishes objective criteria to identify so-called \u201cGatekeepers<\/strong>\u201d\u2014entities that control access to the market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 2024, the EU officially designated Booking.com as a Gatekeeper,<\/a> requiring the holding company to adapt its contract within six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why in November 2024, Booking had to add a new clause to its General Terms and Conditions\u2014point 2.2.6\u2014which reads:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cPoints 2.2.1 and 2.2.2 DO NOT APPLY to accommodations located in No Parity Countries,\u201d <\/em>which refers to all countries in the European Union.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The definitive answer: is it legal to sell for less on your own website?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The definitive answer is YES<\/strong>: if you operate in the European Union, as of November 2024, all accommodation properties can legally offer more advantageous rates on their own website or other channels compared to OTAs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the Contract: The Obstacle of Booking.com\u2019s Algorithms<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But beware:<\/strong><\/mark> Just because the law and the contract allow you to list a lower price on your website, does that mean you can do so with zero consequences? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Booking.com, like other OTAs, uses complex algorithms to index listings, measuring performance and constantly monitoring prices across the web. If these algorithms detect that a room costs less on your website than on Booking, they could penalize your property\u2019s visibility in search results (and we can never know the exact impact of these penalties with complete certainty). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PRO TIP: You can check for yourself if the algorithm has detected prices from your website or other platforms:
Open the Booking.com extranet.
In the top menu, click on Analytics.
Select Performance Dashboard and go to the \u201cExternal Prices\u201d tab.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, the European Union protects us from this risk. With the entry into force of the Digital Markets Act, the EU has the power to monitor Gatekeepers’ algorithms. If the EU were to discover that Booking inserted lines of code saying “if the price on Hotel X’s website is lower, lower its ranking by 20 positions,” Booking would risk fines of up to 10% (and up to 20% in cases of repeated infringement) of its global annual turnover (we are talking about billions of euros). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there is a completely legitimate mechanism at play: the drop in Conversion Rate.<\/strong> How does it work? <\/p>\n\n\n\n