Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

SPAIN | SERGIO CASTEL GAYÁN 1185 Whenever doubts arise about the insolvency protection of an organiser or retailer not established in Spain, the Ministry responsible for tourism must ask the Member State of establishment of the employer for clarification. For entrepreneurs established in Spain, the Ministry responsible for tourism will respond to requests from other Member States as soon as possible, taking into consideration the urgency and complexity of the case. In any event, a first reply shall be sent within 15 working days of receipt of the request. CONCLUSION Following the brief legal review of the transposition of Directive (EU) 2015/2302, it is worth noting how in Spain the LVC has been adopted without the approval of the sector. After three years of attempting to transpose Directive (EU) 2015/2302, it was considered imprudent that the agencies were not given any time to adapt to the new legal regime. In addition to its content, which features new obligations for companies distributing package tours, the new LVC is a major setback for agencies and tour operators as a result of the impact of its express approval, which calls for immediate implementation. As pointed out in the beginning of this article, the new LVC entered into force on 28 December 2018, only seven days after its approval by the Government of Spain and the day after its publication in the Official Gazette of the State, without a reasonable period of adaptation. Regarding the alleged savings for the companies in the sector (in administrative charges for the supply of electronic information to third parties), the sector has understood that this saving is only relative, since much of the information required was published online, while the new legal requirements are excessive for a sector suffering from reduced profitability. This happens in addition to the fact that the travel agencies have made alerts about potential costs in the order of millions for users because of the main measure included in the new regulations: the solidarity guarantee. The Spanish sector has understood that it will cause damage to the tourism sector itself and to the consumers because it only benefits the insurers. It obliges both the travel organiser and the retailer who market these package tours to take out the same insurance separately. With the new LVC, tour groups with travel organisers and integrated marketing areas will be obliged to insure twice for the same risk. A surcharge that will have to be assumed by businesses and consumers.