Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

ARTICLE 19 | PATRICIA BENAVIDES VELASCO 439 that are not established in a member State but nevertheless direct their activities to a member State of the European Union. This precontractual information must be clear, understandable and highlighted. Firstly, the company has to inform the traveller without ground for doubts that he is not entering into a travel package contract and, thus, he will not get the protection that covers this kind of services. Despite the fact that they do not enjoy this broad protection given by the Directive to package travels and, thus, ensured by internal regulations, the traveller is not absolutely unprotected. That is why he will have to be informed about how service providers are the sole responsible for the proper contractual provision of its service. Secondly, the companies offering linked travel arrangements must indicate to the future contracting party that he will be covered by the insolvency protection provided according to article 19.1 of the Directive. To be crystal clear about how such information must be given to travellers, the community legislator has foreseen that the businessman that provides this kind of services must use some standard information templates. This standard information template is included in Annex II of the Directive under consideration, and it is mandatory for member States to transpose it to their internal regulations. Annex II of the Directive contains five different templates. Each one of them is relevant according to the commercial activity that the businessman carries out, while also considering whether the formalization of the linked arrangement contract is made through the Internet or, on the contrary, the contract has been celebrated with the physical and simultaneous presence of the traveller and the businessman. So, the first standard information template – to which the Directive refers as Part A – is designed to be used by entrepreneurs providing online linked travel arrangements and that, as a consequence of a single visit to their marketplace, provide separately the selection and payment of every travel service by the travellers. Moreover, the businessman is a carrier that markets a round trip ticket. The second template – named Part B – must be used by the businessmen providing online linked travel arrangements, whereby upon a single visit to their marketplace they provide an independent selection and payment of every single travel service. The difference with regards to Part A is that, this time, the businessman is not a carrier, even if he markets round trip tickets.