Tourism Law in Europe

25 responsible for the consumer protection policy. That shift further firmed the economic approach to the tourism policy. The two tiers analysis of the national rules on tourism, namely from tourist’s perspective and service provider’s perspective has proven that tourism is mostly seen as the economic activity consisted of tourism services where the aim of regulation is to ensure the economic rights of tourist. The tourists’ rights are safeguarded by establishing the various mechanisms either directly designed to protect tourists’ rights, e.g. defining contractual rights of tourist, ensuring the control of unfair contract terms and unfair commercial practices or indirectly. i.e. devoted to the protection of tourists’ rights by regulating the requirements for tourism services providers and tourism services. It can be resumed that requirements for tourism service providers and their activities, provided in Law on Tourism, are based on a declaration, rather than a verification requirement. Additional requirements such as obligation to have a certificate and to meet the impeccable repute requirement are applied only in respect of tour organisers. Such national regulation towards tourism services providers seems not to pose significant tourists’ rights protection problems when tour organiser is certified in Lithuania. Unfortunately, the same cannot be concluded when tourism products are purchased from tour organisers established in other EEA countries. As it has been demonstrated, several cases related to the violation of tourists’ interests, have already occurred in national practice. These cases have proven that mutual recognition of tourism service providers established in other EEA country serves for the interests of travel businesses, yet does not help to ensure the necessary level of tourists’ protection. Finally, it should be concluded that legislative initiatives of national Government adopted in COVID-19 situation raised reasonable concern of European Commission, because when introducing voucher as the alternative to reimbursement for cancelled package travel contracts, the priority was unreasonably granted to travel businesses and not tourists.