Several travel bloggers and content creators have reported that Booking.com terminated their affiliate partnerships.
Screenshots of emails from the online travel agency (OTA) were posted on social media, informing partners that Booking.com “determined that our current strategic focus unfortunately does not support continuing our partnership.”
The emails said the message acts as 30-day written notice and encouraged creators to apply to Booking.com’s affiliate program via the third-party platform Awin “to continue working with us.”
Subscribe to our newsletter below
“We do extensive reviews of our affiliate programs on an ongoing basis to ensure we are optimizing their engagement with the platform, while continuing to offer the best possible experience for our customers and drive value for our supply partners,” a Bookinng.com spokesperson said in an email. “Any changes we make and ways we leverage our affiliate networks are in line with our broader strategy to effectively manage and grow our partners' performance."
In a blog post outlining the move, budget travel planning website Kosupa Travel asserted that Booking.com isn't doing this as a result of violations, and it is instead “a broad strategic change by Booking.com affecting many (possibly all) of their direct partners.”
According to Kosupa, the verbiage around Awin also insinuates that Booking.com’s move is “a forced migration” from direct partnerships to its own affiliate network.
“The timing and uniformity of these notices suggested a coordinated, company-wide strategic shift rather than targeted actions against specific partners,” the Kosupa blog post reads.
The conversation continued on LinkedIn, with Tony Carne, co-founder of Videreo, noting that this coincides with Expedia’s recently-announced Trip Matching strategy. The artificial intelligence-powered tool will allow Expedia users to share publicly available Instagram Reels with the OTA, which will then generate customized itineraries and travel tips based on the video.
“This comes less than a week after Expedia declared it had found a way to use creators’ content without the need to compensate them,” Carne said. “The incumbents have planted their flag on where they sit when it comes to supporting the created community.”
Creators were also vocal on Reddit, with some expressing frustration and others noting concern about commission from bookings after the termination date.
One Redditor posted a response they reportedly received from Booking.com regarding their concerns.
“We recognize that this news may prompt questions and a desire for more detailed information. As previously communicated, Booking.com has made the decision to conclude our agreement, this decision was reached after careful consideration and internal review,” the text reads, reiterating that the OTA is “unable to provide any information beyond the content already conveyed in the communication.”
This story has been updated with a statement from Booking.com.