Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

IRELAND | ANNE DOLAN 889 5.2. Article 12 – Termination of the Package Travel Contract and the Right of Withdrawal before the Start of the Package 5.2.1. Article 12(5) – Off-Premises Contracts Somewhat at the eleventh hour, in November, 2014, the Italian Presidency added a new amendment to the Commission’s draft proposal, seeking to introduce a 14-day right of withdrawal for travellers who had concluded off-premises contracts 35 . Concerns were expressed by stakeholders in the travel sector regarding the viability of such a cooling off period: “Travel arrangements are perishable goods, with the value of arrangements fluctuating based upon a wide number of factors, and any right of withdrawal would do significant harm to travel businesses, ultimately leading to increased costs and reduced choice for consumers. Any right of withdrawal, even limited to off-premises contracts, and which would not apply to service suppliers, would be disproportionate, as the organiser would be forced to absorb the full costs of a consumer withdrawing from the contract and would be unable to cancel the bookings made with individual service suppliers (i.e. hoteliers, airlines)” 36 . During the consultation conducted by the CAR, stakeholders in the Irish travel industry expressed the view that the introduction of a cooling off period for off-premises sales, would result in the imposition of a disproportionate burden on organisers, in the absence of any evidence of there being an appreciable level of consumer detriment in this regard and it was submitted that “ …. the volume of off-premises contracts concluded in the Irish market is very small but that the implementation of this provision could result in traders not concluding such contracts, thereby reducing the opportunities for consumers to make such bookings” 37 . Endorsing this view, the IrishTravel Agents Association (“the ITAA”) maintained that “ Supplier restrictions can make it very difficult for organisers to unbundle the travel services and attempt to resell same. This is particularly the case, where the booking is made close to the date of departure. Organisers would be exposed to losses, in cases where they have passed on money to suppliers with little likelihood of reselling the travel services to a different traveller ” 38 . 35 The Italian Presidency draft common position 25/11/2014 (ref: 15951/14). 36 http://itaa.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/ITAA-Response-to-Consultation-on-the-Transposition-of-Directive- EU-2015-2302-on-Package-Travel-and-Linked-Travel-Arrangements.pdf. 37 Page vii the Indecon report (see footnote 15). 38 http://itaa.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/ITAA-Response-to-Consultation-on-the-Transposition-of-Directive- EU-2015-2302-on-Package-Travel-and-Linked-Travel-Arrangements.pdf.