Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

250 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE Interesting for this purpose is the figure of the number of disposals managed in one year by tour operators, although marginal and only linked to the Italian market, with a tendency to be 0% in 2018 14 . 3. THE TRANSFER The institute, which has remained unchanged in its discipline for decades, was partially modified in 2015. The current Article 9 of Directive 2302/2015 establishes, in fact, that Member States must ensure that the traveller, upon reasonable notice given to the organiser on a durable medium before the start of the package, can transfer the contract to a person who meets all the conditions required 15 . In any case, a notice of no later than seven days before the start of the package is deemed reasonable. The process is simple, clear and confirms what was already provided for in the previous law 16 . The power to transfer the package must be guaranteed to the traveller as an alternative remedy to withdrawal in case of unjustified impossibility to take part in the trip. The current elements of the case are summarized as follows: travel contract; information regarding the transfer right and related costs by the tour operator; agreement between the assignor and assignee, who satisfies all the necessary conditions required by the travel contract; communication on a durable medium of the sale by the transferor to the transferred tour operator; joint and several liability for the payment of the travel price and reasonable transfer costs. Although, broadly speaking, compared to the previous wording, there are no significant variations in the institute’s framework, however some interesting changes have been made with consequences for the protection of the traveller. 14 The data was provided by dr. Milani, National Director of FTO, Federazione Turismo Organizzato, 2018. 15 On the issue of the mandatory nature of the faculty of the assignement: Flamini, Viaggi organizzati e tutela del consumatore (Organized travel and consumer protection) , Naples, 1999, p. 116; Morandi, Vicende modificative e solutorie del contratto di viaggio (Modifying and solutory vicissitudes of the travel contract) , in Studi in onore di Gustavo Romanelli (Studies in honor of Gustavo Romanelli) , Milano, 1997, p. 898. Contra, among others : Albanese, Della cessione del contratto (Of the transfer of the contract), in Commentario al codice civile Scialoja- Branca (Scialoja-Branca civil code commentary), by Galgano, Bologna- Rome, 2008, p. 264. 16 Directive 90/314 article 4.3: Where the consumer is prevented from proceeding with the package, he may transfer his booking, having first given the organiser or the retailer reasonable notice of his intention before departure, to a person who satisfies all the conditions applicable to the package. The transferor of the package and the transferee shall be jointly and severally liable to the organiser or retailer party to the contract for payment of the balance due and for any additional costs arising from such transfer .