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

3 employers, to postpone loan repayments, to adjust the bankruptcy law, security law measures, and so forth. So far, no intervention measures particularly concerning the tourism or travel industry have been adopted. Consequently, tourist packages, other tourism contracts and transport contracts are still governed by a “non-intervention” legislation. 3. Air Transport and Passenger Rights Beside the rules provided in the Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004 concerning compensation and assistance in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, no specific national rules regarding this issue, in the context of the epidemic, have been adopted in Slovenia. Namely, due to the size of the country, there is no domestic air passenger transport and, consequently, no such rules are needed. As mentioned above, the EU’s air passenger rights regulation does not address situations in which air passengers cannot travel or want to cancel a trip on their own initiative. Whether a passenger will get reimbursed depends, in most cases, on the type of ticket, as specified in the carrier’s terms and conditions. They are a substantial part of a transport contract and, unless there are mandatory rules of national law, apply to the contract. This issue is relevant, particularly in the early stage of the coronavirus outbreak, when air passenger transport was still permitted and many tourists cancelled their journeys for preventive reasons. If a contract for the carriage of passengers has an international element, the applicable law is determined by the Rome I Regulation. The law applicable to a contract is the law chosen by the parties. The parties may choose as the law applicable to a contract for the carriage of passengers only the law of the country where: (a) the passenger has his habitual residence; (b) the carrier has his habitual residence; (c) the carrier has his place of central administration; (d) the place of departure is situated; or (e) the place of destination is situated (Art. 5(2) of Rome I Regulation). If no choice was made by the parties, concerning the applicable law, the law of the country where the passenger has his habitual residence shall apply, provided that either the place of departure or the place of destination is situated in that country. If these requirements are not met, the law of the country where the carrier has his habitual residence shall apply (Art. 5(2) of Rome I Regulation).