Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

1044 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE First of all, it relies heavily on the Package Travel Insolvency Fund Regulations (Chapter 409.18 of the Laws of Malta), as travel agents must contribute to the fund just in case the package travel organiser would become insolvent, and this protection is indeed very important for a “consumer” which in the new Package Travel Directive has become “the traveller”. With respect to the other clauses of the Package Travel Regulations, these are important as they provide extra protection to the traveller as one would know the necessary details of a package. However, as seen from case-law referred to, sometimes, it is the Consumer Affairs Act and/or the Civil Code provisions, which would assist the adjudicator to decide as to the extent of the responsibility of the trader and/or the consumer. Moreover, a case filed incorrectly could also give rise to certain difficulties, and hence, the Commercial Code and the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure play a crucial part. Finally, as seen through case law, a “traveller” should know of one’s rights (and obligations) and the correct procedural law to follow in order to bring forward the right claim in the correct Tribunal or Court within the two-year prescriptive period should one’s package travel proves to be “off course”, a ruined holiday or even a nightmare. Situations arise, such as the air-conditioner did not work in the summer heat, the bus broke down, the ship’s drainage system failed, children cried during the tour, the cruise cabin was too small, the rating of the hotel was different than that promised, the tour did not match the description on the brochure, a slip over a wet floor, the food provided gave rise to food poisoning, there was a hurricane and the tour was cancelled … and other situations which could render the traveller to possibly sue for damages. However, as a last word of caution…should things go wrong when a package travel is bought through a click-through website, then, on a juridical and jurisdictional level, they could become more legally entangled and complicated …