The Legal Impacts of COVID-19 in the Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Industry

governments 1 , demonstrating the relevance of tourism in the most important Brazilian regulation 2 . Furthermore, consumer protection is considered as a fundamental right and also a principle of Economic Order 3 . A large study of the Ministry of Infrastructure, called “Impacts of COVID-19 - air transport sector: analysis of the period from 1 January to 17 April” 4 , describes the high impact suffered by the air transport trade, being an essential reference for all tourism sector. As an example, it indicates that the number of available seats was, in the scenario before COVID-19, almost 9.5 million, in 403 routes, whereas the current number of available seats is 803,044 (-92,6%) in 116 routes (-66 routes). Concerning the number of flights, the national flights dropped from 2,807, in 2019, to 224, in 2020, after COVID-19 (a reduction of 92,9%). International flights went from 40 to 39 (-89,3%). Consequently, the loss of revenue due to COVID-19 was 3 billion Brazilian reais (R$). As a consequence of this tremendous impact, new governmental initiatives have been put into action in order to reduce the damages caused by the COVID-19 crisis and avoid a high number of claims related to the tourism contract nets 5 . It is exactly these new norms, as well as the dialogues and eventual conflicts among all the related rules, which we will be analysing in the following chapters. 1.1. Provisional Measure No. 925/2020 The first Brazilian Federal Government action related to COVID-19 and the tourism sector was the Provisional Measure No. 925/2020, dated 18 March 2020 6 , related to emergency measures to the Brazilian air transport sector in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. The main issues presented in this Regulation are in Articles 2 and 3. 1 SANTOS, Diogo Palau Flores dos. Direito Constitucional. In: MARTINEZ, Regina Célia; GARCIA, José Ailton (org.). Direito e turismo . São Paulo: Saraiva, 2014. p. 304. 2 BADARÓ, Rui Aurélio de Lacerda. Turismo, constituição e lei do turismo: considerações sobre o ordenamento jurídico brasileiro para um direito do turismo. In: BADARÓ, Rui Aurélio de Lacerda (org.). Turismo e direito: convergências . 2. ed. São Paulo: SESC São Paulo, 2014, pp. 23-25. 3 GRAU, Eros Roberto. A Ordem Econômica na Constituição de 1988 . 19. ed. São Paulo: Malheiros, 2018, pp. 245- 248. 4 Original name: Impactos do COVID-19 – setor aéreo: análise do período de 1. de Janeiro a 17 de abril . 5 MARQUES, Claudia Lima. Contratos no código de defesa do consumidor. 6. ed. São Paulo: Revista dos Tribunais, 2011, pp. 109-116. 6 Available on http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2019-2022/2020/Mpv/mpv925.htm , accessed on 10 April 2020.