Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

826 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE Charter or hotel reservation contracts of the organiser do not entitle the travellers as contractual partners. Moreover, a service provider is the only one who can provide travel services as an independent tradesman, not being economically or legally connected to the organiser. The travel service provider acts as a vicarious agent of the organiser, within the meaning of § 278 (Erfüllungsgehilfe) 10 . The organiser is no longer allowed to limit his liability for the performance of the service providers, according to § 651p I BGB. d) Travel agent or retailer A legal definition contains § 651v I 1 BGB, and, according to it, the agent of package travel is the one who sells packages combined by an organiser. The legislator expressly saw no need to regulate the controversial classification and legal nature of the travel agency contract 11 . At the very least, in the context of the amendment to the law, she basically assumes a contractual relationship. The content of this travel agent contract, concluded with the travel agency, is the provision of a package travel contract, usually on a commission basis (Geschäftsbesorgungsvertrag § 675 BGB) 12 . e) Exceptions of the scope (1) Private occasional package . According to § 651a V BGB, the provisions of the package travel law exclude travels offered only occasionally (not more than a few times a year), on a not-for-profit basis, and only to a limited group of travellers. The requirements must be cumulative. Examples of this are travels by cultural institutions, charities or youth facilities for their members without being offered to the general public 13 . It should be noted that if commercial traders organise these trips, within the framework of their professional trade or business, the trips are classic holiday packages, which fall in the scope of the new bill. (2) Day package . An exception are also packages and linked travel arrangements, covering a period of less than 24 hours, unless the overnight accommodation is fewer than € 500 (Art. 2 No. 1 a PTD) 14 . So day-trips, without overnight accommodation, worth up to € 500, are now completely excluded from the 10 Führich/Staudinger, § 651 a Rn 24, Palandt/Sprau, BGB, § 651 a Rn. 11. 11 BT-Drs. 18/10822, 92. 12 Führich/Staudinger § 5 Rn. 26. 13 Recital 19 PTD. 14 BT-Drs. 18/12600, 14; crit. Führich, NJW 2017, 2945, 2946.