Travel Communities Guidelines

Designed with you in mind, this dedicated forum is where Booking.com customers can connect and share experiences, exchange knowledge – and boost their trip and stay.

We want this to be an open space to share ideas and participate in discussions, so don't forget to keep things friendly and considerate.

By the way, if you are an accommodation owner (or authorized employee of an accommodation), you obviously also can share very valuable information, experiences and destination knowledge. We encourage you to do so but do keep an eye on the below guidelines as they also apply to you.

How to make the most of the Travel Communities

Travel Communities is a space powered by users of the Booking.com platform. Use it to learn, share, and get tips from each other. By being inquisitive, open, and generous, anyone can combine their collective strengths and build a strong base of practical knowledge – not to mention a real sense of community.

When you’re using the forum, it’s good to keep some things in mind:

Stay respectful, courteous, and sincere by using appropriate tone and language.
Respond to posts in a way that adds to the discussion.
Encourage others to share, especially new users.
Share your knowledge and experience with the community. Ask for help when you need it and help others.
Provide constructive answers and actionable feedback.
Be specific: Use clear subject lines and give sufficient context to your question.
Be accurate, correct and complete when stating facts.
If you are an accommodation owner posting experiences, knowledge and comments, please note that it should not relate to (promotion of) your own accommodation or that of a competitor.

The Travel Communities guidelines

Travel Communities offers a welcoming environment for users of the Booking.com platform. The diversity of experiences, opinions and perspectives can prove invaluable in finding solutions to various challenges.

We trust that all users will be respectful, act with good intentions, and use their best judgement. Each user is responsible for its own posts and actions.

In order to foster a productive and beneficial environment, the following actions won't be tolerated:

Posting or linking to information that is deceptive, fraudulent, threatening, libelous, harassing, hateful or otherwise objectionable.
Posting or linking to offensive, inappropriate, or potentially inflammatory content.
Posting or linking to content that promotes or encourages illegal activities, pornography, or sexual services and products.
Posting or linking to viruses, bots, worms, trojan horses, or other malicious software, or using Travel Communities to post, link to, generate, distribute, or promote any kind of spam.
Posting or linking to content that violates anyone’s intellectual property rights (including copyright, patent, trademark, publicity, moral, and other property or proprietary rights) for which you do not have the right or consent to post or link to. If relevant and appropriately attributed, you may link to other forum content, or to Booking.com material that is publicly available.
Posting or linking to content that violates or is invasive of any person’s privacy rights.
Posting or linking to personal identifiable data (e.g. email address, telephone number etc).
Misrepresenting yourself or lying about your identity or affiliation, or falsely implying any association or sponsorship by Booking.com.
Soliciting other Travel Communities users or using the forum (and its content) for any commercial purpose.
Posting or linking to content that disparages Booking.com, its vendors, partners, or affiliates.
Spamming the forum with advertisements and/or self-promotion. You may recommend an app or solution to Travel Communities, or a relevant forum discussion that provides a solution to another user’s question, but you must state whether it is free or a paid service.
Deliberately providing inaccurate information or inaccurate answers to questions. If you don't know the answer, it's best not to comment.
We want to help our users and customers as much as possible, in the best possible way. This is why posting about and/or linking to (a) specific accommodation(s), including but not limited to reviews and customer service-related matters, such as complaints, refunds or cancellations will not be allowed on this platform as this is not the best space to get help for that. In order to best support you with any customer service related matters and get you to the right people, please visit our Help Centre to resolve the above issues.
The information you share on Travel communities is public. This means that anything you upload to Travel communities including, text, images, links, and profile information will be presented publicly.
Posting / commenting on Travel communities means also that other users will be able to tag you, on which you will be notified by email / push notifications. If you prefer to opt out from these notifications, you can do so via your profile.
Instigating other community members to engage in activities that support disparaging Booking.com partners is not allowed.

We reserve the right (at our sole discretion) to remove any post that does not conform to our Travel Communities guidelines, and to temporarily, or permanently, suspend, deny access to or ban any user or participant who violates these guidelines.

You must be 16 or more to register to use the Travel Communities. For children younger than 16 years old, the use of any of our services is only allowed with the valid consent of a parent or a guardian. Booking.com may collect and use information of children only as provided by the parent or guardian or with their consent. If we become aware that we process information of a child under 16 years old without the valid consent of a parent or guardian, we reserve the right to delete it.

By uploading (or otherwise providing) content that consists of images, photos or videos or the like visual materials you certify, warrant and agree that you own copyrights to this subject content (or that you have proper consent to use and provide same). You are granting Booking.com a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, unconditional, perpetual right and license to use, reproduce, display, edit, have reproduced, distribute, (sub-)license, communicate and make available the content, either partially or in full, as Booking.com at its discretion sees fit. If applicable, you warrant that you have the explicit consent to use images of any recognizable individual in the content that you upload.

We encourage you to report any behavior or content that goes against our guidelines. You can do this by contacting virality@booking.com.

Updates to guidelines

These guidelines are subject to updates without notice, so we recommend that users read and review these guidelines on a regular basis.

Note that the Booking.com Terms of Service and Privacy Policy also apply to your participation in Travel Communities. By using this forum you agree to adhere to these Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. By using this forum you also agree that your name (full name and/or alias, social media name and/or handle) will or may be exposed and displayed together with your post. And by using this forum you also agree that Booking.com will notify you via e-mail or otherwise of any activity that relates to your post, contribution or comment in the forum.

Disclaimer

Travel Communities is provided “as is” and “as available” with no express or implied warranties of any kind including, but not limited to, any implied warranties of fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability, non-infringement, and title. Booking.com disclaims any and all liability for the acts, omissions, and conduct of any third parties in connection with or related to your use of Travel Communities. You should assume total responsibility for your use of this forum.

Booking.com does not take responsibility for the correctness, completeness, up-to-datedness, or quality of the information provided in Travel Communities and Booking.com makes no representations, warranties, or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content on the forum is accurate, complete, or up to date. Further, Booking.com is not liable for any damage or corruption caused by viruses (or similar mechanisms such as worms, lock-outs, metering, or self-destruct mechanisms) on computers or other terminal equipment in connection with visiting, using and/or downloading data of any kind from the forum. You are personally responsible for protecting your equipment appropriately from viruses and other risks on the Internet.

The content, links, and resources on this forum are provided for general information only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you, as a user, should rely. If applicable, you must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on this forum.

Booking.com reserves the right, at its sole discretion, but disclaims the obligation, to monitor and/or remove content from any post, contribution or comment on this forum. Booking.com may analyze browsing patterns and usage trends of Travel Communities and its users with the general information collected. Booking.com may, but is not obligated to, monitor or review any areas on this forum where users transmit or post communications, and the content of any such communications.

If you do not agree to these guidelines, please do not use or participate in this forum, provide any materials, or download any materials from the forum. If you no longer agree to be bound by these guidelines or if you are dissatisfied by Travel Communities and/or its content, you must cease use thereof.

THE WEBSITE, THE FORUM AND ASSOCIATED MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY APPLICABLE LAW, BOOKING.COM DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. BOOKING.COM MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTY THAT THIS FORUM WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT YOUR USE OF THIS FORUM WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR FREE; NOR DOES BOOKING.COM MAKE ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF TRAVEL COMMUNITIES. BOOKING.COM MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE OPERATION OF THE FORUM OR THE INFORMATION, CONTENT, MATERIALS, OR PRODUCTS INCLUDED ON TRAVEL COMMUNITIES.

IN NO EVENT WILL BOOKING.COM OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES, AGENTS, VENDORS, OR SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF INFORMATION) ARISING OUT OF THE USE, MISUSE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THIS FORUM, EVEN IF BOOKING.COM HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Booking.com, its affiliates, agents, vendors or suppliers from and against any and all claims, damages, costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising from or related to your use, abuse or misuse of Travel Communities, including, without limitation, your violation of these guidelines, the Booking.com Terms and Conditions and Privacy Statement, the infringement by you, or any other subscriber or user of your account, of any intellectual property right or other right of any person or entity.

Applicable law

These guidelines will be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the substantive laws of the Netherlands, under the exclusion of any international treaty, and under exclusion of any conflicts of laws principles. Exclusive place of jurisdiction will be Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Contact

For questions regarding these guidelines, please contact us at virality@booking.com.