Tourism Law in Europe

8 4. otherwise, an agreement on a substitute package regarding vouchers should be reached by 31 August 2021; and 5. if no agreement on the change of contract has been reached by the end of August 2021, the refund of the price should be executed by 14 September 2021. By enacting this procedure, the Slovak republic has violated Article 12(4) of the Package Travel Directive 29 , which stresses that the passenger shall be entitled to a full refund of any payments made for the package. In spite of the fact that the Commission recommended to the Member States that they should set up attractive, reliable and flexible voucher schemes, passengers still have, under EU law, the right to choose between reimbursement in money and other forms of refund, such as a voucher. Therefore, postponing actual refunds for travellers until the deadline set for 14 September 2021, as envisaged by the Amendment of the Package Travel Act, is in conflict with the principles stipulated by the EU Commission and EU law. V. Conclusion The aim of this contribution has been to provide a brief overview of tourism law in Slovakia. As everything nowadays, the content of this paper has been partly influenced by the detrimental effects of the pandemic COVID-19 on tourism and its development. It has affected newly proposed schemes for the promotion of tourism, as well as the problematic vouchers for substitute packages. Striking a balance between preserving passengers’ rights and supporting travel businesses has become the most urgent task of the national legislation. The paper provides an overview of tourism law in Slovakia. It also contains an introduction of sector specific instruments, like holiday allowances and contributions for employees who spent their holiday in Slovakia. This scheme became effective on 1 January, 2019, and has substantially contributed to the development of Slovak tourism, as it has statistically increased the number of overnights stays in the accommodation facilities. Bibliography Collective Commentary about the new Package Travel Directive. ESHTE 29 “ The organiser shall provide any refunds required under paragraphs 2 and 3 or, with respect to paragraph 1, reimburse any payments made by or on behalf of the traveller for the package minus the appropriate termination fee. Such refunds or reimbursements shall be made to the traveller without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days after the package travel contract is terminated. ”.