The Legal Impacts of COVID-19 in the Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Industry

7 The discipline of residence contracts has been merged in Article 88 bis, which now deals not only with transports and packages but also with hotels contracts, and the discipline of other services, foreseen in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4, has remained in art.88. Concerning travel contracts, Article 28 of Decree-Law No. 9, of 2 March 2020, (and now Art. 88 bis §6) established, in paragraph 5, that the subjects referred to in paragraph 1 of the same Decree (i.e. all people subject to legal restrictions due to COVID-19, therefore to date all Italian citizens), can exercise the right of withdrawal from the tourist package contracts to be performed in the periods of hospitalisation, quarantine, active surveillance or duration of the epidemiological emergency from COVID-19 (currently in progress) in the areas concerned (currently corresponding to the whole Italian territory) 8 . Article 88 bis , compared to 28, provides several significant changes which do not pertain to the traveller’s use of the right of withdrawal. In fact, Art. 88 bis , paragraph 6 confirms it and also states, in paragraph 7, that the withdrawal works for the organiser as well, as foreseen in Article 41 paragraph 5 letter b) of Legislative Decree No. 79/2011. The organiser can exercise the right of withdrawal from contracts targeting foreign states where landing or arrival is prevented or prohibited due to the COVID-19 emergency and in any case when the execution of the contract is prevented, in whole or in part, by measures taken due to this emergency by national, international or foreign states authorities. Article 41’s reference to the institution of the free withdrawal by the traveller (and the organiser), in this specific case, however, deserves some observations: the reason for the withdrawal will no longer exclusively be referred to the unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances that occurred in the place of destination or the immediate vicinity (Article 41 paragraph 4), but, as determined by the Italian mandatory overriding provision, by the setting of “quarantine hospitalisation periods with active surveillance, or duration of the epidemiological emergency from COVID-19 in the areas affected by the infection”, as identified by the Decrees adopted by the President of the Council of Ministers, under Article 3 of Decree-Law No. 6 of 23 February. This also applies in the case of withdrawal by the organiser to the measures taken due to this emergency by national, international or foreign states authorities. 8 Pursuant to Article 41 paragraph 4 of the Legislative Decree No. 79, of 23 May 2011, (the Tourism Code, implementing Article 12 of Directive 2015/2302).