ACM agrees to take over Corendon by Sunweb

“Consumers who want to go on holiday to the sun have a lot of choice in recent years, also due to the growing offer via the internet. Package holidays remain popular due to the low price and the convenience of ‘all-in-one’ booking. Sunweb and Corendon are the numbers two and three and after the takeover will be about the same size as the largest player TUI. That is why we wanted to investigate extensively whether this acquisition restricts competition, causing prices to rise or quality to fall. That is not the case, “said Martijn Snoep, ACM chairman of the board.

Research by the ACM shows that consumers who ‘look for the sun’ consider different countries, and that the price is often the determining factor. For consumers, TUI’s package holidays are an important alternative to Sunweb and Corendon. Sunweb and Corendon are not each other’s biggest competitor. There are also smaller players and new entrants, such as Transavia Holidays, that create competitive pressure. Finally, when booking a trip, an important part of consumers also looks at the possibility of putting together such a trip themselves by means of separate components (airline tickets and hotel bookings). All in all, ACM concludes, partly on the basis of extensive economic research, that sufficient competition remains.

The corona crisis broke out during the assessment of this proposed acquisition. This crisis has a major impact on the travel industry. It is difficult to predict what the consequences will be and whether they will be permanent. That is why ACM assumed the situation on the market just before the corona crisis.