Tourism Law in Europe

7 2. Legal Sources of Tourism Law The provision of services in tourism is governed by the Act on the Provision of Tourism Services (Tourism Services Act, hereinafter: TSA) which entered into force on 1 January 2018 and is considered to be the main legal source of tourism law in Croatia. The main legal sources of Croatian tourism law also include the Hospitality and Catering Industry Act 9 of 2015 and the Act on Tourist Boards and Promotion of Croatian Tourism 10 of 2019. The TSA and the Hospitality and Catering Industry Act govern the services in the sector of tourism, the manner and conditions for the provision of such services, the manner and conditions for the provision of services in hospitality and catering industry. The TSA also provides for package travel contracts and contracts on linked travel arrangements, as well as the rights and obligations of traders and travellers stemming from such contracts. Other contracts important for tourism, such as hospitality provider’s deposit, agency travel contracts, contracts of the supply of accommodation (allotment contracts) are governed by the general contract law provisions of the Obligations Act. 11,12 Timeshare contracts, long- term holiday product contracts, resale and exchange contracts are provided for in the Consumer Protection Act 13,14 whose provisions are harmonised with Directive 2008/122/EC on the protection of consumers in respect of certain aspects of timeshare, long-term holiday product, resale and exchange contracts 15 . Croatian tourism law is harmonised with EU law. In the first place, the tourism law is harmonised with primary EU legislation on freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services 16 and with the provisions of secondary EU legislation on freedom to provide services and the recognition of professional qualifications. The TSA and the Catering Industry Act are harmonised with Directive 2006/123/EC on the services in the internal market 17 . For the 9 Official Gazette N N 85/15, 121/16, 99/18, 25/19, 98/19, 32/20, 42/20. 10 Official Gazette/N N 52/19, 42/20. 11 Official Gazette/N N 35005, 41/08, 125/11, 78/15, 29/18. 12 Articles 737-743, 881-920, Obligations Act. 13 Official Gazette/N N 41/14, 10/15, 14/19. 14 Articles 95-104, Consumer Protection Act. 15 OJ L 33, 3/2/2009, pp. 10–30. 16 Articles 49-62 TFEU. 17 OJ L 376, 27/12/2006, pp. 36–68.