Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

1176 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE entrepreneurs by providing such services as an alternative business model to package travel. In Spain, the doctrinal field and the sector itself have emphasised that the definitions of combined travel and related travel services are muddy and that the similarities between the two modalities confuse more than clarify. This ambiguity may ultimately leave the qualification of the contract as “package travel” or “linked travel arrangement” at the discretion of the employer, and the same applies to the imposition of penalties in the event of termination of the contract by the consumer before the start of the journey. Therefore, although the new regulation does incorporate some improvements, it may result in a significant deterioration of the rights of the traveller. Finally, a reference is made to liability for errors in the booking stage, establishing that the employer will be responsible for errors due to technical defects in the booking system that are attributable to him, as well as errors committed during the booking process, where the employer has agreed to manage the booking of a package travel or travel services that are part of linked travel arrangement. On the other hand, the employer will not be responsible for the booking errors attributable to the traveller or caused by unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances. 2. OBLIGATIONS OF INFORMATION AND CONTENT OF THE COMBINED TRAVEL CONTRACT The new regulation strengthens pre-contractual information for travellers, which previously focused on the requirements for packaged travel brochures and programmes. With the advent of the digital age, the online market has taken on a previously non-existent importance, making it necessary to extend the requirements of prior information to other forms of contracting, giving them a binding character, as highlighted by the LVC. The advent of the digital age necessitates the extension of prior information requirements, which will form part of the package travel and cannot be modified unless the parties expressly agree otherwise. Within this context, the LVC highlights the information that the organiser, as well as the retailer, must provide when the package travel is sold through the latter. This must take place before the traveller is bound by any relevant package travel contract or offer. What is most important is the binding nature of the