Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

1056 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE beyond its purpose. An organiser must provide very detailed information to the customer before the conclusion of an agreement. This does not just concern the essential aspects of the agreement such as the destination, the route, the means of transport, the location, the meals and the excursions, but also the language used during excursions, an answer to the question whether the trip is suitable for peoplewithdisabilities, general information about passport andvisa requirements, et cetera. Everything that must be listed is set out in one of the annexes to the Act that must be enclosed. The amount of information means that bookings by phone will become a thing of the past. It is doubtful whether all of this benefits the traveller. The more mandatory pieces of text the traveller or consumer is presented, the quicker he is inclined to simply accept it. At least, that is our experience when we need to accept an update with the new general conditions used by Apple. A customer who books a trip at home wants to book this trip, and not read pages of legal content over which he generally does not have any control and which will not change his decision. 6. CONFORMITY/FORCE MAJEURE 6.1. Non-conformity and compensation The organiser is responsible for the correct realization of the travel agreement. If the organiser fails to do so (non-conformity), the general rule is that the traveller notifies the organiser, and the organiser must ensure that the non-conformity is resolved, but only if this is possible. If this is not possible, or can only be done at very high (disproportionate) costs compared to the severity of the shortcoming and the value of the travel service, the non-conformity does not need to be resolved (Article 7:510 in conjunction with 7:511 DCC). If the organiser cannot resolve the issues, the obvious follow-up question is: what is the customer entitled to? The answer to this question is not that simple. Article 7:510(8) DCC stipulates that if the non-conformity has significant consequences for the implementation of the package, and the organiser has not resolved the issues within a reasonable period, the traveller 1) may terminate the agreement, and 2) is entitled to a price reduction and compensation. If no alternative arrangements can be offered, or the traveller rejects the alternatives (because they are not equivalent), the traveller is entitled to a price reduction or compensation (option 3). The traveller is entitled to repatriation without additional costs in all three cases.