Giuridico e Amministrativo

📌 The U.S. Antitrust has branded Google a "monopolist," following a year-long lawsuit initiated by the U.S. Government, accusing Google of dominant positioning and thus harming businesses and consumers. Google, facing European authorities' scrutiny, plans to appeal the verdict. With the Digital Markets Act in effect, regulations like limiting Google Maps search dominance begin. This pivotal ruling may reshape digital strategies across sectors, including tourism, where businesses heavily invest in search visibility and advertising.

☀ On August 9, Fipe Confcommercio and Fiba Confcommercio led a beach resort strike, demanding government clarification on maritime concessions. Umbrellas opened two hours late. Without a response, another strike may occur on August 19. First auctions are scheduled for January 2025, but procedures remain unclear.

📰 The Italian Antitrust Authority (AGCM) is conducting an investigation into Booking.com for alleged abuse of dominant position, started in March. Booking.com has proposed commitments to ensure fair pricing across different online channels and not to disadvantage competitors. The AGCM has set a deadline of September 13, 2024, for comments on the commitments. Booking.com has cooperated with the AGCM and seeks to balance partner interests with customer choice and pricing.

🧠 Federterme Confindustria highlighted the introduction of a legislative proposal framework for the thermal and wellness sector in the Italian Senate. The legislation aims to make Italy a leader in medical, thermal and wellness tourism, leveraging the healing properties of Italian waters. It includes measures to revitalize the sector, promote its healing function, incentives for facility refurbishment, tax breaks for companies, and expansion of thermal treatments available through the National Health Service. The proposal also includes integrating thermal treatments into the national health and social care services network and establishing a fund at the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Mef). Federterme emphasizes the role of thermal tourism in off-season flow destagionalization and regional growth, urging a swift parliamentary process.

🏂 Italy's Apennine ski resorts receive a new tranche of non-repayable funding worth €13 million from the Ministry of Tourism to counter the impact of last winter's low snowfall and reduced visitor numbers. The support, reported by Messaggero today, will benefit lift operators, artificial snowmaking businesses, hospitality enterprises, travel agencies, and tour operators, continuing until 2028.

💸 In 2024, there was a 2% increase from 2023 and a 12% annual rise in vacation loans in Italy, totaling nearly 250 million euros in personal loans. Around 150,000 applications were recorded, averaging nearly 5,000 euros per loan to be repaid in 50 monthly installments. The trend is particularly strong among under-30s, who make up one-third of the demand, with the average age of applicants at 38 years. Economic reasons drive this surge, with 6.5 million Italians skipping vacations and another 7.7 million uncertain about traveling, 56% citing financial issues as the cause. Young people under 25 and seniors over 65 are most affected, with over 70% of the latter forgoing holidays due to economic constraints.

✈ In July, airline punctuality declined, with Europe seeing a +35% increase in flight cancellations from June, and the US experiencing a +98% rise. IT disruptions from CrowdStrike Microsoft heavily impacted flight operations. Iberia Express was the most punctual in Europe with 79.79% on-time arrivals, followed by Icelandair at 79.13%. Europe had 10,976 cancellations, while Saudia led globally with 88.15% on-time flights, and North America had 23,393 cancellations.

💥 In Italy, beach businesses under Fiba Confersercenti and Sib went on strike to demand government intervention in the beach sector turmoil. The strike lasted from 7:30 to 9:30 AM and was patchy in participation. Some associations remained open, while Cna balneari preferred dialogue, seeking a national regulation and uniform guidelines.

🏖 Airbnb experienced a sharp stock market drop of over 13% due to lower-than-expected summer performance, often the peak for the home-sharing giant. The decline is attributed to decreased demand from U.S. tourists amid a slowing U.S. economy, tightening regulations, and bans on short-term rentals in major cities like New York and Barcelona. Founder Brian Chesky discussed diversification strategies, including quality focus, longer rental periods, and enhanced experiences with AI integration. Airbnb plans to launch a "co-hosting" service in the upcoming fall.

🛒 The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) is investigating potential abuse of dominant position by Booking.com entities since March. AGCM published Booking's commitments to not consider prices on other sales channels in their visibility programs. The investigation scrutinizes strategies impacting Italian hotel autonomy, involving programs like Partner Preferred, Preferred Plus, and Booking Sponsored Benefit. Stakeholders can comment on Booking's commitments until September 13, 2024. Booking has cooperated with AGCM, aiming for a solution to balance partner interests and offer customers better choices and prices.