Booking and Airbnb May Cut Off Access to Russia: Platforms Propose Regulatory Restrictions

Before leaving Russia, the companies occupied 75-80% of the housing booking market

The Association of Tourist Aggregators (ATAG) has proposed introducing regulatory restrictions on the return of foreign housing booking services, such as Booking and Airbnb, to the Russian market. This proposal was made by ATAG Director Alexander Bragin.

Global players have unlimited financial capabilities, a huge network effect, and decades of product development. If they return, we will again see monopolization of the market and unlimited access to personal data by foreign entities, with the location of users and their movements. In this regard, we propose to normatively limit the possibility for global companies to return to our market.
Alexander Bragin, Director of ATAG

Bragin noted that some subsidiaries of Western companies are not formally closed and are in a «dormant» state. This allows them to quickly resume their activities in Russia. Booking still has this opportunity. The expert stressed the need for prompt preparation of legislative amendments regarding travel aggregators in conjunction with the State Duma and federal authorities.

He also recalled that before leaving the Russian market, Booking.com and Airbnb effectively dominated, occupying up to 75-80% of the housing booking market.

Earlier www1.ru reported that the Booking hotel booking application appeared in RuStore — without Russian hotels.

Read materials on the topic:

RuStore Opens Its Doors: Platform Opens Registration for Game Developers from Other Countries

Rapid Development of the Russian Alternative to Google Play: Number of Downloads in RuStore Approaching 150 Million

Russian Analog of Google Play: How RuStore Works and What It Is Useful For

Sources
TASS

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