Guidance has been published for businesses on the definition of
a 'package' holiday, aiming to provide greater certainty for the
travel industry on a complex area.
Package holidays offer safeguards that aren't available with
other types of travel, which mean different legal obligations
for any business selling them.
WHAT BUSINESSES NEED TO DO
Businesses need to establish whether the services they are
offering are considered to be package holidays, or whether they are
a number of separate travel services.
Sometimes this is straightforward, but in some cases it is much
harder to decide.
The guidance sets out a range of examples and factors,
identified by the Courts, which need to be considered
- including advertising and customers' perceptions.
REGULATIONS
In the UK, anyone who sells package holidays must comply with
the Package Travel, Package Tours & Package Holiday
Regulations 1992 (PTRs).
The PTRs
provide consumers with statutory legal rights against tour
operators.
For example, all tour operators selling
packages must be bonded or protect the prepayments they hold.
That means if they become insolvent before the consumer travels,
they should get their money back - or, if already abroad, be able
to complete the holiday and get home without any extra
payments.
Consumers also have rights in relation to changes made to their
holidays, or if the brochure was misleading.
The Regulations also enable dissatisfied holidaymakers to pursue
their case with a single supplier - the travel organiser
- instead of with individual suppliers such as airlines or
hoteliers.
Where a tour operator has failed to honour its contractual
obligations to a customer, it may be liable to pay
compensation.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For further information on package travel from the
BERR
website, please visit:
www.berr.gov.uk/consumers/buying-selling/holidays-travel/package-holidays/index.html
To download the guidance please visit: www.berr.gov.uk/files/file43845.pdf
To download question & answer guidance for organisers and
retailers on The Package Travel Regulations, please visit:
www.berr.gov.uk/files/file35634.pdf
To view BERR
package travel quick facts, please visit: www.berr.gov.uk/consumers/fact-sheets/page38205.html