Hotels like the Heritage in Christchurch will have more choice when offering prices to booking agencies and to guests who ask.

People booking hotel or motel accommodation may be better off booking direct with providers as a result of intervention by the Commerce Commission.

Until now, the largest online booking services, Booking.com and Expedia, had insisted hotels they dealt with offered their best rate through them.

Now, accommodation providers may offer sharper deals direct, though they still can't prominently advertise cheaper rates on their own websites without breaching Expedia and Booking.com's terms and conditions.

A Hospitality NZ spokeswoman said the changes didn't go far enough for some operators but would offer more choices for customers hunting for a bargain.

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The Commerce Commission looked at "parity clauses" which had required New Zealand accommodation providers to offer their best price and all their rooms to online travel sites operated by Expedia and Booking.com, including Wotif.com and Hotels.com.



The commission was investigating whether the clauses were anti-competitive and prevented competing online sites from negotiating better deals directly with accommodation providers, before Expedia and Booking.com reached a deal.

The same issues have also been investigated by regulatory authorities in Australia, where the online booking intermediaries had also agreed to modify their terms and conditions.

Commission chairman Mark Berry said the commission was pleased Expedia and Booking.com had decided to amend their contracts with accommodation providers as they had done overseas.



​​"The amendments mean accommodation providers can now offer lower rates or tailor special deals for 'walk-ins', telephone bookings or loyalty members that are separate to the prices they advertise online."

They are also no longer required to offer all their rooms on Expedia or Booking.com websites, he said.

The agreement has not removed the contractual requirement on accommodation providers to advertise rooms through their own or their group's own website at a rate no lower than that offered through online sites owned by Expedia and Booking.com.