Ed. 02 · Aug 15, 2026 · next in Aug 29, 2026 · reading 7 min

The commission war arrived at CADE

The conflict between direct sales and OTAs left the commercial field and ended up in the regulatory field: six sector entities formalized a complaint against Booking.com. On the other hand, Decolar made the opposite move and cut commissions. And while Brazil debates who pays the distribution bill today, the USA and global players are already testing who will make the reservation in the guest's place tomorrow.

Decolar reduces hotel commissions and creates zero commission for 6 months — direct response to Booking.

Six sector entities sue CADE against Booking.com for abuse of a dominant position.

IHG tests “agentic” booking with Google; Expedia measures the “AI Trust Gap”.

01 — Opening

The commission war arrived at CADE

The conflict between direct sales and OTAs left the commercial field and ended up in the regulatory field. While Brazil debates who pays the distribution bill today, the first reservation pilots by AI agents are already testing who will book in the guest's place tomorrow.

02 — Direct selling × indirect selling

From readjustment to CADE

Brazil

Decolar reduces hotel commissions and eliminates fees for new partners for 6 months

In a move in the opposite direction to Booking, Decolar announced a cut in commissions charged to hotels and inns in high-demand destinations, in addition to zero commissions during the first 6 months for new partners across the country — effective until January 2027 — and a US$200 credit for sponsored media. On a reservation of R$1,000 on the Standard plan, the commission drops from R$220 to R$150.

PANROTAS / Economic News Brasil · Jul.–Aug. 2026

Brazil

Six entities sue CADE against Booking.com

FNHRBS, FOHB, ABIH Nacional, Resorts Brasil (ABR), BLTA and FBHA filed a formal representation against Booking.com, alleging abuse of a dominant position in increasing the commission to 18%. The group calls for an immediate suspension of the charge and the opening of an investigation — and argues that the platform accounts for between 40% and 60% of reservations intermediated by OTAs in the country.

Hotelier News / Market&Events · Jun.–Jul. 2026

Analysis

“OTAs are not the only cost of hotel reservations”

HSMAI (Revenue Optimization Advisory Board) study group questions the premise that direct booking is always more profitable: digital media, booking engine, conversion tools and sales team also cost — and few hotels measure this real cost per channel accurately.

Hotelier News · Aug. 2026

03 — X-ray of the fortnight

The size of the price movement

How two OTAs went in opposite directions in the same quarter — and what that costs, or saves, on the end.

18%

Booking.com Commission — Preferential program (from 15% to)

15%

Decolar Commission — Standard plan (from 22% to)

~70%

Travelers who still prefer to book directly with the brand, not AI

R$ 27 thousand

Estimated extra cost/year for average hotel with half of reservations via Booking

6 months

Decolar’s zero commission period for new partners

40–60%

Booking.com's share in OTA-mediated bookings in Brazil

04 — Technology & digital media

Who will book in the guest's place

Technology

IHG tests “agentic” booking pilot with Google

The network tests integration with booking tools using Google's AI agents, joining a broader industry movement to make inventory “readable” by automated agents — schema markup, structured data and real-time availability become distribution infrastructure, not just SEO.

PhocusWire · Aug. 2026

Expedia measures the “AI Trust Gap”: 70% still prefer to book with the brand

Expedia Group research shows that travelers willingly use AI to search and compare, but around 70% prefer to complete their booking directly with trusted brands — not with chatbots or independent agents. Message for resorts: AI helps with discovery, but conversion still requires its own reliable channel.

Hotel News Resource · Aug. 2026

Investment

Aviva Group announces R$350 million water park in Rio Quente

Hot Park Baía das Tartarugas, a new water park from the Aviva Group (Rio Quente Resorts), adds to the wave of investment in attractions as a commercial lever — CEO Alessandro Cunha defended at the PANROTAS Forum the training of travel agents as “concierges” to sell parks, currently a little explored channel in Brazil.

PANROTAS Blog · Aug. 2026

05 — Fortnight Radar

Brazil · Latin America · United States

Beach Park announces Arvorar, its second park

CEO Murilo Pascoal (also president of SINDEPAT) reinforces that the sale of park tickets in Brazil is already mostly direct — and sees this as an unexplored opportunity for travel agents, as is already the case in US parks.

SINDEPAT / sectoral press · Aug. 2026

THERE

Royal Caribbean suspends water park in Mexico after environmental veto

The “Perfect Day” project in Mahahual was blocked for environmental reasons; the company maintains the Royal Beach Club in Cozumel, scheduled to open at the end of 2026 — a sign that expansion in Latin America today requires licensing, not just capital.

International press · Aug. 2026

Fliggy (Alibaba) launches new agentic travel assistant, powered by its own AI (Qwen)

Another major Asian/global distribution player enters the race for AI assistants for travel — reinforcing that the fight for who “owns” the conversation with the traveler is just beginning.

PhocusWire · Aug. 2026

06 — To take to the table

3 questions from this fortnight

01If Decolar lowered commission and Booking raised it, does your resort's channel mix already reflect this new cost-benefit ratio?
02Is your inventory (rates, availability, attractions) structured enough to be “read” by an AI booking agent, like IHG’s pilot with Google?
03Is the sale of park tickets already treated as a strategic commercial channel — with agent training — or is it still just ticketing?

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