Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

112 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE “(a) carriage of passengers; (b) accommodation which is not intrinsically part of carriage of passengers and is not for residential purposes; (c) rental of cars, other motor vehicles, or motorcycles (d) any other tourist service not intrinsically part of a travel service within the meaning of points (a), (b) or (c)”. Hence, ‘travel service’ means tourist service, in other words, a service connected to a tourist activity. It may be notice, for instance, that the Italian text of the Directive reads “servizio turistico”, an expression that was also used by the Italian legislator in the DecreeLaw No. 62 of 21 May 2018 ( Decreto Legislativo 21 maggio 2018 n. 62, Attuazione della direttiva (UE) 2015/2302 del Parlamento europeo e del Consiglio, del 25 novembre 2015, relativa ai pacchetti turistici e ai servizi turistici collegati ). The indicated travel service – transport, accommodation and other services – are the traditional components of a tourist contract, to whom the Directive adds transportation rental. 4.1.1. Travel services: the rental of cars or other motor vehicles on the same plan as transport or accommodation services The traditional carriage of passengers and accommodation 3 services, stipulated in the 1990 Directive, are now supplemented by the rental of cars , other motor vehicles or motorcycles which require a category A driving license. We have three different eligible main travel services in the field of package or linked travel arrangements. These reflect specifically how “the combination of different types of travel services, such as accommodation, carriage of passengers by bus, rail, water or air, as well as rental of motor vehicles or certain motorcycles, should be considered for the purposes of identifying a package or a linked travel arrangement. ” (recital 17) 4 . 3 There is a dual requirement: not being an integral part of passenger transport – sleeping cars on a night train – and not being intended for residential purposes. 4 An accommodation for residential purposes, even if related to the attendance of a long-term language course, cannot be considered as accommodation [recital 17 and Article 3/1/(b)]. Furthermore, financial services exemplified by travel insurance are not part of the secondary travel services provided for in Article 3/1/(d) (recital 17). Services included in another main or secondary travel service are also excluded, with several examples being listed: “for instance, transport of luggage provided as part of carriage of passengers, minor transport services such as carriage of passengers as part of a guided tour or transfers between a hotel and an airport or a railway station, meals, drinks and cleaning provided as part of accommodation, or access to on-site facilities such as a swimming pool, sauna, spa or gym included for hotel guests.”. A final warning from the legislator in recital 17 concerning first-class cabins in air transport or sleeping cars on trains: “This also means that in cases where, unlike in the case of a cruise, overnight accommodation is provided as part of passenger transport by road, rail, water or air, accommodation should not be considered as a travel service in its own right if the main component is clearly transport.”.