It was another relatively quiet week in the online travel world, as evidenced by the stories below. The one obvious exception was the European Commission’s final publishing of the much-discussed Digital Markets Act (DMA), which now becomes effective next month. My colleague Eva Novick (who leads our privacy and data security practice team) prepared a very helpful FAQ for those of you wondering whether the DMA might apply to you. Even if the DMA does not apply to you directly, it likely will apply to one or more of the online platforms that you use (or may use in the future) – most notably, Airbnb and Booking.com. Enjoy

Booking Holdings Presses Ahead With Etraveli Acquisition
(“Booking Holdings Notifies Etraveli Deal for E.U. Approval,” October 12, 2022 via MLex Insights) (subscription may be required)
Following its recent receipt of the UK’s CMA’s approval of its proposed acquisition, Booking is now pushing ahead and seeking formal approval of the acquisition from the EU. As part of its review, the EU will be seeking input from a variety of industry members. For those of you not familiar with Etraveli, its brands include Gotogate, Mytrip and Flightnetwork, all of which provide search, booking and fulfillment products and services for flights. Booking Holdings already works with Etraveli to provide Booking its air offerings, and with the purchase, Glenn Fogel (C.E.O. of Booking Holdings) hopes to make users’ booking of flights even more seamless (all part of Glenn’s “connected trip” initiative).