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

COVID-19 and the Rights of Organisers: The Maltese Perspective 1 Rebekah Tanti-Dougall 2 1. The Legal Framework in Malta transposing the Package Travel Directive; 2. The situation in the EU brought about by COVID-19; 3. To what extent the Maltese law, transposing the Package Travel Directive, was amended in Malta to assist organisers during COVID-19?; 4. What other amendments could have been carried out in Maltese law to assist the Organiser?; 5. What kind of vouchers should be offered to the traveller?; 6. Refunds versus Vouchers - the relationship between the organiser and the traveller and the organiser and a third party provider; 7. The Maltese Insolvency Fund Legal Framework: Protection of travellers versus the possibility of insolvency of organisers; 8. Conclusion. 1. The Legal Framework in Malta transposing the Package Travel Directive The EU Package Travel Directive was transposed into Maltese Law through Subsidiary Legislation No. 409.19, entitled ‘Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations’. Due to the situation brought about by COVID-19, both the Travel Package Directive and Maltese Law were resorted to, in order to resolve issues regarding travel packages purchased by travellers and, subsequently, their cancellation. It is important to note that the COVID-19 situation brought about the use of the phrase ‘ unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances ’. Thus, Article 12.2 of the Package Travel Directive was resorted to, which reads: “(…) the traveller shall have the right to terminate the package travel contract before the start of the package without paying any termination fee in the event of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occurring at the place of destination or its immediate vicinity and significantly affecting the performance of the package, or which significantly affect the carriage of passengers to the destination. In the event of termination of the package travel contract under this paragraph, the traveller shall be entitled to a full refund of any payments made for the package, but shall not be entitled to additional compensation ”. Likewise, under Regulation 11 of Maltese Law, the traveller shall have the right to terminate the package travel contract before the start of the package, without paying any termination 1 The contents of this article reflect the situation as at the time of writing and any opinions are those of the author. 2 Dr. Rebekah Tanti-Dougall is a Partner at ‘Advocates, Tanti-Dougall and Associates’ Law Firm based in Malta. She is a Legal Advisor on Travel and Tourism Law, as well as Aviation Law. She is also a lecturer on Aviation Law.