Hungary is currently dealing with some payment troubles after Booking.com failed to provide payments on time to accommodation providers, making the case take another turn.
As Hungary Today explains, Booking.com started to pay those providing accommodation on the platform the value of the reservations it has already collected and fulfilled.
Nonetheless, not everyone has received their money yet, pushing the Hungarian Tourism Agency to step in and collect data on the matter as well as assess how many providers have been affected by this.
“According to the portal, a system error occurred on their site in the past month and a half, which is the cause of the late payment. The Hungarian Tourism Agency would like to map out as soon as possible how many domestic hoteliers may be involved in the case,” the Hungarian Tourism Agency wrote in its letter to accommodation providers regarding the Booking.com scandal.
It has been revealed by Hungary Today that Booking.com is weeks behind with the payment of accommodation fees. Due to the delays, domestic hosts, as well as foreign hosts, have expressed their concern and have required the authorities to take measures.
The hosts said that the payment troubles are affecting them significantly, especially now during the summer months when the demand is higher than ever.
As revealed, Booking.com said that payments for guests that checked in between June 28 and July 19 would be made by July 24. Nonetheless, the accommodation portal failed to meet such a deadline.
Since it is still not clear how many accommodation providers have been affected by this, the Hungarian Tourism Agency said that they expect to receive answers by August 11. Once they have collected all the information, they will disclose the number of affected accommodation providers, and then the authorities are expected to take measures.
Apart from the Hungarian Tourism Agency, Fidesz parliamentary group also commented on the matter. Speaking on behalf of the group, Kristóf Szatmáry said that they expect the authorities to investigate the matter.
Moreover, he also said that they expect Booking.com to pay Hungarian accommodation providers without any further delay as they are in a difficult situation.
Hungary is one of the EU countries that has high booking rates, as many travellers choose to visit the country each year.
Previously, SchengenVisaInfo reported that Hungary’s tourism is anticipated to register a 15 per cent increase this summer, surpassing the pre-pandemic levels. The month of July registered a high number of tourist arrivals, and August is expected to register an upward trend too.
