Instituto Internacional Arayara de Educação e Cultura vs. Booking.com e outros (Exorbitant Accommodation Prices at COP-30)

In August, 2025, the Arayara International Institute of Education and Culture filed a Public Civil Action (ACP) with a request for preliminary injunction, against Hotel Cop 30, Hotel Danúbio, Hotel Santa Clara, Cop 30 Hospedagem, Galeria Sempre Com Deus, Panorama Hotel, Pousada Da Didi, Marujus Cotijuba, Airbnb Plataforma Digital Ltda, and Booking.com Brasil Serviços de Reserva de Hotéis Ltda, due to the abusive and disproportionate increase in accommodation prices in Belém/PA during the period of the 30th UN Conference on Climate Change (COP-30), scheduled to take place in November 2025. The plaintiff argues that there was an increase of over 500% in the daily rates offered on digital platforms and local establishments, constituting an abusive practice contrary to the economic and social purpose of property. The plaintiff alleges that the exorbitant prices threaten to exclude delegations from developing countries, highly vulnerable consumers, traditional peoples, social movements, and civil society organizations, all of which are fundamental actors in discussions on climate justice and energy transition. This, they argue, would lead to the event's elitization and risk the transfer of COP-30 to another city or country, thereby affecting Brazil's international image and the conference's credibility. In an urgent injunction, the plaintiff requests the immediate suspension of offers and reservations for accommodations with prices exceeding the average price of the last 12 months and the establishment of a provisional price ceiling based on 2024 values adjusted for inflation. On the merits, the plaintiff seeks confirmation of the price limitation; double reimbursement of amounts paid above the established parameter; and the joint and several liability of the defendants to pay R$ 1 million for collective moral damages (to be allocated to the Fund for the Defense of Diffuse Rights); an order for the defendant hotel and accommodation companies to reverse the increases applied and maintain the price applied in 2024 for the same period, adjusted by the official inflation index, or IPCA or IGP-M or another official adjustment index; and the condemnation of the Airbnb and Booking.com platforms to establish a ceiling on the price of accommodation, considering the average charged by advertisers and the historical average price. A decision was issued denying the preliminary injunction request, based on the genericity, imprecision, and unenforceability of the proposed criterion of "average of the last 12 months" to serve as the basis for an immediate enforcement court order. It was highlighted that judicial price limits, without concrete and uniform data, could generate legal uncertainty and a "reverse periculum in mora," with a reduction in the supply of accommodation and an artificial shortage of beds during the event, exacerbating the problem instead of solving it.