Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

ITALY | ROSARIA GAROZZO 957 c) Content of the package travel contract 3.6. The new legislation has broadened the instruments for the protection of the traveller, introducing a detailed discipline on the modalities of conclusion of the contract and on the information that the organiser and the seller, if the package is sold through the latter, must provide the traveller at the pre-contractual stage. This information is intended to coincide essentially with the content of the package travel contract. 3.7. The core of the protection of the traveller is the obligation imposed on the trader (i.e. on the vendor, together with the organisers, who are considered responsible for communication), to provide in a clear and precise way and prior to the conclusion of the contract, a standard information form, as well as a set of information on the essential elements of the contract, such as i) the main characteristics of the tourist services, such as accommodation category, means of transport, travel route and so on; ii) the name and geographical address of the organiser and seller, their telephone numbers and addresses; iii) the price of the package. In addition, in order to facilitate communication, the traveller must be given an emergency telephone number or contact point details through which the organiser or travel agent can be reached. d) Performance of the package 3.8. The assessment of the performance of the package is another important requirement of the new legislation: the imbalance between the parties is now partly offset by the provision of enhanced consumer protection in case of particular events, such as, for example, the withdrawal from the contract by the organiser before the beginning of the trip. 3.9 . The new legislation specifies the rights of travellers in the event of changes to the contract before departure, with regard to the price and the other conditions of the contract, confirming the rule that the travel plan drawn up on the basis of the initial information provided by the trader may not be modified in principle for the duration of the contractual relationship. Exceptionally, however, since package tours are often purchased well in advance of their execution, the same discipline confers, on the one hand, in favour of the trader, limited power of unilateral amendment of the contract, and, on the other hand, in favour of the traveller, the right to avail himself of various remedies.