Booking.com Hit With $530 Million Fine From Spanish Regulators

Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, March 8. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

The European Union’s Digital Markets Act, designed to ensure fair competition and protect consumers, became effective Thursday, and the EU Travel Tech association claimed Google is not complying with the new law.

Heather McKay made a mistake while browsing Booking.com — a big one that ended up costing her $9,200.

This training programme targets Directors-General to help them better manage safety related challenges post-COVID and to provide a closed-door platform to discuss topical challenges.

Global fintech leader in automated VAT claim and return solutions, Way2VAT Ltd, announces it has received firm commitments from new and existing institutional, professional and sophisticated investors to raise approximately A$4.25 million (before costs), to be completed via the issue of approximately 193.2 million fully paid ordinary shares in the company at an issue price of A$0.022 per Placement Share

Located high in the mountainous Engadine in Switzerland, St Moritz is the famed Alps ski town in which Badrutt’s Palace is located. A historic ski resort attracting the rich and famous, as well as young European aristocrats, St Moritz continues to amaze.

The Department of Transportation proposed new rules Thursday on how airlines should accommodate passengers who use wheelchairs. 

Though her work on Saturday Night Live keeps her tethered to New York City, comedian Chloe Fineman can most often be found criss-crossing the country to film in Los Angeles or back to the Bay Area, where she grew up. Recently, for her campaign with Nütrl Vodka Seltzer, she got to see a new place: Mexico City. “First of all, my brain still can’t understand how it’s a three-hour flight from LA [and five hours from New York], so I could meet all my friends in the middle,” she says. “And it was the most beautiful city. We saw luchadores wrestling, and the food was unbelievable. Some of the best meals in my life were in Mexico City!”

Let’s be real: Sometimes accruing enough points and miles to be able to cash in for a dream trip is tough. It can take a long time to rack up enough loyalty rewards to score those airline seats in first class or several days at a five-star resort. Fortunately, there’s a shortcut you can take to increase your account balance, practically instantly: Pool your points and miles with friends or family.

Delta Air Lines added a second flight to view the total solar eclipse from 30,000 feet after the first flight the airline announced sold out in less than 24 hours.

Powder laps in the morning and performance art in the afternoon — such is the winter life in Western Massachusetts. The region’s ranging mountains and snow-covered forests create a spectacular backdrop for outdoor recreation such as skiing and snowshoeing while its small towns have long provided respite for artists. In the 19th century, painters, artisans, and writers began retreating from nearby big cities to the Berkshires and surrounding areas to find solitude and the space to create. (Take, for example, Edith Wharton, who needed space so badly she had a 35-room mansion built in Lenox called The Mount.)

In an extraordinary display of the strength of our country’s tourism sector, The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation is proud to announce record-breaking visitor arrivals for 2023, which exceeded the forecasted projections. Surpassing all previous records, the nation welcomed a total of 9,654,838 visitors in 2023, marking a historic milestone in its journey as a leading global tourism destination. This figure represents a 38% increase over 2022 and a 33% increase compared to the previous 2019 record.