A Turkish court upheld the decision to suspend online booking portal Booking.com, which was imposed in late March upon unfair competition claims.

The website was suspended on March 29 following a lawsuit filed by the Turkish Travel Agencies' Association (TURSAB) cited unfair competition.

The website previously stated that it will appeal to the suspension ruling in early April.

Friday's hearing for Booking.com's appeal was also attended by with nine tour operators, nine hotel and tourism companies and The Hotel Association of Turkey (TÜROB), which also appealed the suspension ruling.

Istanbul's 5th Commercial Court of First Instance made the decision to uphold the earlier ruling, rejecting the appeal by Booking.com and hotel operators.Booking.com can still be used from foreign countries to make reservations for Turkish hotels, but the site cannot be accessed in Turkey.