The online reservation portal Booking.com hopes to resume operations for Turkish customers to book reservations in Turkey, company representatives have said.
On March 29, an Istanbul court had suspended the site taking reservations from Turkish customers for facilities inside Turkey, after the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB) filed a lawsuit against the leading online travel agency citing unfair competition.
The fifth case hearing will be held Oct. 23, according to company officials.
Booking.com representatives told Turkish daily Habertürk: "We aim to keep on offering our service to travelers coming from all over the world to visit Turkey and to discover its unique culture with its eye-catching natural beauties."
They also said that Booking.com is keeping the dialogue open with the Turkish officials and remain optimistic that it will be able to find an agreement to open up its operations for domestic travel in the country again.
The suspension negatively affected the business of numerous small hotels across Turkey, particularly in Anatolia, which relied on Booking.com over other tour operators and travel agencies.
As a result, Turkish Hoteliers Federation (TÜROFED), Turkey Hoteliers Association (TÜROB) and the Turkish Small Hotels Association requested the ban on the company be lifted.
