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

9 circumstances the case of the outbreak of a serious disease at the travel destination (Recital 31(2), Preamble, PTD). Significant risks to human health, such as the outbreak of a serious disease like the COVID-19, at the travel destination or its immediate vicinity usually qualify as unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances. The assessment of whether those circumstances significantly affect the performance of the package must be made on a case-by- case basis. The traveller, on his side, has the right to terminate the package travel contract without paying any termination fee if unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occur at the place of destination or its immediate vicinity or significantly affect the performance of the package or significantly affect the carriage of passengers to the destination (Article 12(2) PTD). If the traveller terminates the package travel contract before the start of the package in the event of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, he shall be entitled to a full refund of any payments made for the package, within fourteen (14) days after the termination of the contract, but shall not be entitled to additional compensation (Article 12 paragraphs (3) and (4) PTD). Nonetheless, when it comes to refunds to travellers, what happens in practice is that the above-mentioned rules do not apply in a situation such as the one we encounter with COVID- 19 pandemic. The majority of tour operators and travel companies in Europe’s major outbound markets disregard the rules of the PTD, especially those regarding traveller refunds. Travellers across the European Union see that their right to reimbursement of a cancelled package is not respected since tour operators and travel agents replace monetary refunds with vouchers or refund credit notes. Commissioner for Justice and Consumers, Mr. Didier Reynders, addressed a letter to all Member States pointing out that appropriate actions are needed at national level which will strike the right balance between consumer protection and support to travel businesses 17 . According to the Commissioner, with regards to cancelled holidays, the traveller’s right to be reimbursed under the Package Travel Directive also applies in case of “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances”, such as those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, 17 European Commission, DG Justice and Consumers, COVID-19: Commissioner Reynders repeats his call for respect of consumer protection and support to travel and tourism businesses for package travel holidays , 9 April 2020. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/just/item-detail.cfm?item_id=674033 (accessed on 16/04/2020).