Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

ARTICLE 3 | VINCENZO FRANCESCHELLI AND CARLOS TORRES 115 services for the purpose of the same trip or holiday, if: (a) those services are combined by one trader, including at the request of or in accordance with the selection of the traveller, before a single contract on all services is concluded; or (b) irrespective of whether separate contracts are concluded with individual travel service providers, those services are: (i) purchased from a single point of sale and those services have been selected before the traveller agrees to pay, (ii) offered, sold or charged at an inclusive or total price, (iii) advertised or sold under the term ‘package’ or under a similar term, (iv) combined after the conclusion of a contract by which a trader entitles the traveller to choose among a selection of different types of travel services, or (v) purchased from separate traders through linked online booking processes where the traveller’s name, payment details and e-mail address are transmitted from the trader with whom the first contract is concluded to another trader or traders and a contract with the latter trader or traders is concluded at the latest 24 hours after the confirmation of the booking of the first travel service”. A combination of travel services, in which no more than one type of travel service, as referred to in points (a), (b) or (c) of point 1, is combined with one or more tourist services, as referred to in point (d) of point 1, is not a package if the latter services: “(a) do not account for a significant proportion of the value of the combination and are not advertised as and do not otherwise represent an essential feature of the combination; or (b) are selected and purchased only after the performance of a travel service as referred to in point (a), (b) or (c) of point 1 has started”. Again, as in definition (1) “Travel service”, the notion of package must be related with a tourist activity or, if you prefer, with a “tourist service”. For the definition of Travel Package it is of notice Recital 17, which indicates some limits, stating: “Only 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. Accommodation for residential purposes, including for long-term language