Turkey Looking to Ban 20 Travel Booking Sites

Dozens of portals offering travel and reservation services in Turkey are set to face law suits after the Association of Turkish Travel Agents (TURSAB) announced it had decided to take legal action citing unfair competition practices which pose a threat to local tourism enterprise, Hürriyet Daily News reports.

TÜRSAB said last week it would be filing law suits against 20 sites, including Airbnb, Expedia, Agoda and Skyscanner.

The decision follows legal action taken against booking,com. An Istanbul court ruled for the suspension of the company’s activities in Turkey in March 2017. Booking.com, which counted some 13,000 hotel partners in Turkey, was already facing steep fines imposed by the country’s competition authority for breach of competition rules. 

TÜRSAB said in a statement last week it “will launch legal action against 20 portals such as Airbnb, Agoda, Skyscanner and Expedia, which have been in unfair competition with Turkish travel agencies and tour operators by not paying any tax even though they earn income selling Turkish products and services to Turkish customers in the Turkish market”.