Leading hotel chains were given a fresh headache yesterday as regulators launched an investigation into suspected data sharing.
The industry was already reeling from the escalating conflict in the Middle East, with shares across the sector falling in line with those of major airlines and cruise companies.
In a further blow, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was looking into whether Hilton, Marriott and Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels (IHG) had shared sensitive information through data provider CoStar’s analytics tool STR.
The latter is also under investigation.
The CMA said: ‘When rival businesses share competitively sensitive information – including through a third-party data analytics provider – this reduces the uncertainty competing businesses normally have about how each other will act.’
IHG shares slumped 4.2 per cent in London and Hilton was down 2.2 per cent, while Marriott dropped 2.5 per cent in New York.
Island idyll: Hawaii’s Ritz-Carlton O’ahu is owned by Marriott which is among the hotel chains being investigated by the the Competition and Markets Authority
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