STR, hotel giants accused of data-driven pice-fixing
A proposed consumer class action accuses STR and a group of luxury hotel operators of conspiring to keep room rental prices artificially high
The lawsuit accused the hotels of sharing competitively sensitive, commercial information through CoStar’s Smith Travel Research (STR) reports that show “performance benchmarking and comparative analytics” for the industry.
The defendant hotels shared prices, supply and future plans, allowing participating companies to use rivals’ strategic information to inflate prices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, New York, Nashville, Chicago, Boston, Austin and other cities, according to the lawsuit.
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