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

2 area remains a matter of national law, applicable to the contract. However, it should be noted that, in those matters, travellers should not be deprived of the protection ensured by the EU consumer law, including the protection against unfair contract terms and unfair commercial practices. For coronavirus-related reasons, several travellers cancelled their hotel reservations. Whether or not they get reimbursed depends on the type of reservation (refundable, non-refundable) as specified in the hotel’s terms and conditions or by the national law applicable to the contract. If a traveller made a non-refundable booking, while the hotel’s contract term on cancellation and refund policy does not provide for an exception in cases of force majeure, this might be considered as unfair, since the whole burden of termination of a contract in such cases is put on the consumer. However, when assessing the fairness of a contract term, all relevant circumstances of the case should be taken into consideration. This paper addresses this issue, thereby taking into consideration the traveller’s rights, according to the Package Travel Directive, as well as the rights of an air passenger according to the Slovenian law. 2. Epidemic and Intervention Measures in Slovenia Followed by the COVID-19 pandemic announcement by the World Health Organisation, the Slovenian government declared epidemic on 12 March 2020. In order to prevent the spread of the virus, several measures have been adopted, such as school closures, restrictions at the border crossings, suspension of public transport, bans on public gatherings of more than five persons, work at home, closure of hotels, restaurants, bars, shops (except grocery stores), cinemas, theatres, sports areas, and so on. Even a stricter social distancing measures were introduced on 30 March, when the Government Decree came into force, restricting the movement of persons within the municipality of their permanent or temporary residence. Recently, a petition for a constitution review of this measure was filed. Most of these measures will remain in force until further notice. Passenger flights within the EU are currently banned until 27 April, whereas other international passenger flights are prohibited until further notice. The tourism industry in Slovenia accounts for 12% of national GDP, and it might be needless to say that it will be severely affected by closures and limitations on travel due to pandemic. The same could be concluded for the travel and hospitality industry. The first bundle of intervention measures taken by the Slovenian government deals with measures to assist employees and