Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

650 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE right to information, education and to organise themselves in order to safeguard their interests ” 42 . The European Union has developed a set of passenger rights in all modes of transport (air, rail, waterborne, bus and coach) and Directives on package travel, package holidays and package tours – first the Directive 90/314/EEC and, today, the Directive 2015/2302 “on package travel and linked travel arrangements”. It is to note that also special consumer law rules on Private International Law were developed (Rome I, Rome II, Brussels Regulation Ibis, etc.). The MERCOSUR also has a new Convention on international consumer contracts – “Acordo do Mercosul sobre direito aplicável em matéria de contratos internacionais de consumo” 43 –, which has an article about tourism 44 . Concerning consumer protection, the CCV Convention brought rules less favourable, although uniforms. The second difficult arose during the elaboration of the CCV Convention, with changes in the tourism industry, for instance, the decentralisation and fragmentation of tourism at the end of the last century. If, in 1950, tourism destinations were concentrated in industrialised countries in Europe and North America, presently, 46,7% of the tourism in the world has developing countries as a destination. As the UNWTO stated before the COVID-19 outbreak, “ International tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) worldwide grew 4% in 2019 to reach 1.5 billion, based on data reported by destinations around the world. 2019 was another year of strong growth, although slower compared to the exceptional rates of 2017 (+7%) and 2018 (+6%). Demand was slower mainly in advanced economies and particularly in Europe. Uncertainty surrounding Brexit, geopolitical and trade tensions, and the global economic slowdown, weighed on growth. 2019 was also the year of major shifts in the sector with the collapse of Thomas Cook and of several low-cost airlines in Europe ” 45 . The decentralisation of tourism has been followed by its fragmentation, for it is no longer considered restricted to an elite, but rather a cross-class phenomenon. We can also speak about a specialisation, 42 Vid . Articles 4(2)(f), 12, 114(3) and 169 TFEU and Article 38 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and comments on REICH, Norbert, Micklitz, Hans.-W., Rott, Peter, & Tonner, Klaus (2014). European Consumer Law . Intersentia: Cambridge, pp. 290 & ff. 43 See MARQUES, Claudia Lima. Nota ao Acordo do Mercosul sobre direito aplicável em matéria de contratos internacionais de consumo, in Revista de Direito do Consumidor , vol. 118, ano 27, pp. 561-569, São Paulo: Ed. RT, July-August 2018, pp. 561 & ff. 44 Available at https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/internacional/noticia/2017-12/paraguai-assume-mercosul-e- -bloco-firma-novos-acordos-durante-cupula/ (accessed on 02 July 2020). 45 UNWTO World Tourism Barometer and Statistical Annex, January 2020, https://www.e-unwto.org/toc/ wtobarometereng/18/1 (accessed on 28 July 202028).