Booking.com a highly profitable Dutch website, has sought government support after its bookings plummeted 85 percent compared to a year ago. The company is asking for help in paying the salaries of its 5,500 employees as the severity of the impact of the coronavirus on the tourism sector becomes clearer. The company’s IT workforce includes people from 80 different countries. The company pays an average salary of €47,000 per year. The daily Financieele Dagblad points out that the application for support to pay staff follows a major share buy-back program by Booking.com in 2019. The company has also borrowed $4bn on the capital markets in recent weeks.
