Tourism Law in Europe

11 the applicant to correct the identified deficiencies of the submitted documents within 5 working days from the receipt of the service obligation; to take a reasoned decision not to issue a certificate of classification of accommodation services if the applicant fails to fulfil the obligations to correct the identified deficiencies in the submitted documents. The Consumer Rights Protection Service issues a classification certificate for accommodation services for a period of 5 years. The validity of the certificate of classification of accommodation services may be revoked when: the provider of classified accommodation services terminates its activities or at its own request or the provider of accommodation services fails to fulfil the obligation of the Consumer Rights Protection Service to correct the identified deficiencies (Article 32 of the Law on Tourism of the Republic of Lithuania). By the Order No. 4-462 of the Minister of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania of 8 August 2019 “On the Approval of the Requirements for Classification of Relevant Types of Accommodation Services” we can find specific requirements for the accommodation establishment, i.e. cleanliness, quality of service, additional services, room furnishings, etc. The global crisis caused by COVID-19 also hit the accommodation services sector in Lithuania hard – 139.4 thousand tourists stayed in hotels, guest houses and motels in the second quarter of 2020, or 81.1% less than in the same period last year. The number of tourists from abroad decreased by 93.3% and amounted to 34.3 thousand (Department of Statistics, 2021) 2 . 3. Tour Operators, Tourism Agencies and Legal Regulation of their Activities The activities of tour operators and travel sales agents in Lithuania are regulated by several main legal acts, which include the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania (2000) – it provides the basics of the procedure for establishing legal entities; laws regulating the legal form of individual companies – such as the Law on Limited Liability Companies of the Republic of 2 Lists of classified and unclassified accommodation service providers in Lithuania can be found in https://vvtat.lt/en/services/tourism-service-providers/575.