Sustainable Tourism Law

DRAFT UNWTO CONVENTION ON THE PROTECTION OF TOURISTS 391 to deploy the liability effects 11 ) and the intermediaries would be forced to respond automatically for the user/guest damages and should have the right of recourse against the service provider 12 . We are quite aware that this proposal will ignite a lot of fires, especially among the platform holders, but we do strongly believe it would be a balanced and fair system, in which the “agent” that facilitates and connects, that completely determines the business model, that collects a substantial remuneration over the price without any risk, and where the capital is concentrated, would not be able to avoid its liability. Anyway, this liability can only be deployed when, and if, an accident occurs, and according to the numbers available there are very few accidents with this kind of accommodation. The institution of a strict liability to the intermediaries will function as a safety valve of the system, in the sense that no damage will remain without reparation, and will also act as a moderating element to businessmen, who have to be prepared to respond directly to the user. Nowadays, anyone with a little expertise with computers can easily set up an intermediary platform to bring together owners and guests, all this with very little investment. The idea of a strict liability will moderate these approaches and will contribute to separate good businesses from bad businesses. Finally, and from a very practical point of view, the effect of this new standard would be no more than to force the intermediaries to use their bargaining power against the insurance companies in order to have greater protection. No one doubts that the cost of these insurances to the big companies operating in the market will be very low. And we can have, at the end of the day, a win-win situation. CONCLUSIONS Regarding all that has been said, here are the conclusions reached: The problems arising from the sharing accommodation demand special solutions; The draft Convention aims to fulfil this gap and to provide a real protection for those who choose this way of accommodation while travelling; 11 Shavell, Steven, Strict Liability versus Negligence. The Journal of Legal Studies 9:1, 1-25, 1980 12 In strict liability situations, although the plaintiff does not have to prove fault, the defendant can raise a defence of absence of fault.