For-Sight

📌 The European Union introduced the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in 2022 to regulate digital 'gatekeepers'. As of September 2023, the EU Commission designated seven companies as gatekeepers: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, Microsoft, and Booking.com (as of 13 May 2024). The DMA imposes obligations like enabling the uninstallation of pre-installed apps and data sharing with business users. Booking.com must comply with the DMA within six months of its May 2024 designation, affecting rate parity clauses and competition fairness. The UK's Digital Markets Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC) mirrors the DMA, with the Competition and Markets Authority enforcing similar regulations. Unintended consequences of the DMA for hoteliers include a 20% drop in organic traffic and increased distribution costs due to greater OTA visibility.