Tourism Law in Europe

12 7.3. The travel guarantee scheme According to the Package Travel Directive Sweden shall ensure that travelers that has purchased a package travel or a linked travel arrangement is protected if the travel services cannot be performed due to the organiser’s insolvency. According to the Travel Guarantees Act organisers shall lodge security before marketing or selling a package travel or a linked travel arrangement. The competent authority is Kammarkollegiet, which assesses if an organiser has to provide security and if so, the amount that the security shall cover. A company that intends to market and sell package travels in Sweden, must report its business to the authority together with a prognosis for the following year. Since a travel agent acting as a intermediary (retailer) is not responsible for the proper performance of the contract, a travel agent has no obligation to provide travel guarantee. Such obligation may occur if the travel agent sells package travels put together by an organiser established in a third country. The majority of organisers provides security through a bank guarantee or a payment guarantee by an insurance company. There are only a few insurance companies providing this service and the banks has during the last years become more restrictive. Security may also be provided through deposited money with the authority or in a bank account. There is also a limited possibility to lodge a collective security for a group of companies. At the moment this is only possible for members of the trade organisation Visita, which members include businesses within the Swedish hospitality industry. In order for one of their members to be part of the collective travel guarantee, there are a number of conditions that must be met, i.e. the packages must take place in Sweden and may not include transport of passengers. It is according to the Travel Guarantees Act possible to provide security through an insurance. However, there are at the moment no insurance companies that offers this product in Sweden.