Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

PORTUGAL | CARLOS TORRES 1091 Examples: the surprising prohibition of hotel & golf, fly-drive or airplane & accommodation combinations The inadequate transposition in Portugal results in significant losses for the hotels, aswell as other service providers,whichcombine their ownaccommodation services with other travel services, such as golf or car rental, which is a common practice in Algarve and Madeira. In fact, the Portuguese legislator, instead of operating a transposition of the European legislation to every travel service provider, created a new law on travel agencies, in which hotels, car rental companies, airlines and others cannot combine services, only being allowed to sell their own. In 1990, the European legislator only included the organising and the seller agencies; in 2015, a multitude of operators, including hotels and airlines, appeared, which reflects the deep changes the Internet brought about in the travel sector. The Internet was created in 1994 and, since then, new possibilities have materialised for consumers to purchase travel services directly from their providers, who have also started to combine them, going beyond the static brochure or programme prepared by the major tour operators: “That market has undergone considerable changes since the adoption of Directive 90/314/EEC. In addition to traditional distribution chains, the Internet has become an increasingly important medium through which travel services are offered or sold. Travel services are not only combined in the form of traditional pre-arranged packages, but are often combined in a customised way. Many of those combinations of travel services are either in a legal ‘grey zone’ or are clearly not covered by Directive 90/314/EEC. This Directive aims to adapt the scope of protection to take account of those developments, to enhance transparency, and to increase legal certainty for travellers and traders.” (recital 2). The Association of Hotel Managers of Portugal (ADHP), referred to by the Portuguese legislator as one of the consulted associations, in addition to the Portuguese Association of Travel Agencies and Tourism (APAVT) and the Portuguese Hotels Association (AHP), warned about this important issue regarding the scope of the transposition in the short hearing of the Preliminary Draft, which took place between 26 December 2017 and 4 January 2018. The Portuguese legislator responded to the considerable extension of the scope of application imposed by the European legislator – which opened up the