Tourism Law in Europe

21 The hotel contract may take the following two (2) forms: guarantee commitment contract and allotment contract . In the first case, specifically the guarantee commitment contract, the hotel owner and the travel agent sign a lease contract for a fixed number of beds and all pertinent services for a designated time period, to an alternating clientele and for an agreed compensation. The travel agency shall pay compensation to the hotel owner irrespective of whether the beds were used or not. In other words, the hotel owner reserves a certain claim on the lease for the definitively leased rooms. The hotel owner assumes a definitive obligation to provide the agreed upon rooms or accommodation establishments to the tour operator’s clients while the other party, the tour operator, assumes the definitive obligation to pay a financial consideration for the agreed upon beds or accommodation establishments 23 . The second type of hotel contract, allotment, is used to reserve a fixed number of beds. It is a contract with its own features and very popular among hotel owners and travel agencies or tour operators. More specifically, the allotment contract constitutes a lease contract for a number of beds therein defined by a minimum and maximum percentage. In other words, two percentages of alternating beds are defined for a given lease period: a maximum one that binds the hotel owner and a minimum one that binds the travel agency. The allotment contract does not assign any definitive obligation to the hotel owner or the tour operator for the totality of beds/establishments but rather for a number up to a certain limit (i.e. the minimum percentage). VI.2. Ηοspitality Contract Hotel contracts are distinct from hospitality contracts signed directly between hotel owners and their client (tourists). The hospitality contract is one of the most significant contract types in tourism law, since the provision of accommodation is an essential component of tourism trade, as tourists stay overnight or even spend a few hours in establishments built for that purpose. With this contract, one party (the hotel owner) is obliged to provide a so-called 23 Rizos, E. (2016), ibid ., pp. 16 and 29-30.