Tourism Law in Europe

This article is intended to give an overview of the most important rules and thus provide guidance for those who want to become active in the Austrian tourismmarket - whether as providers or as enquirers. 2. Regulatory Provisions 2.1. Trade Regulations Trades related to tourism are traditionally very heavily regulated in Austria. All major trades in tourism therefore belong to the so-called “regulated trades“ 4 , which, in addition to the general requirements for practising a trade, also require a formal certificate of professional qualification (or evidence of an equivalent individual qualification). These trades include in particular  tourist guides 5  hospitality industry (restaurant services and accommodation) 6 and  travel agency business (including tour operators) 7 Where a regulated trade is exercised by a legal entity, a natural person has to be appointed as so called “managing director under trade law” who must have the required certificate of professional qualification and is responsible for the authorities for the exercise of the respective trade 8 . He/she must either be member of the body appointed to legally represent the company or be employed with social security coverage for at least half of the normal working hours 9 . A natural person too, may appoint a managing director under trade law and is obliged to do so if he/she doesn’t have a certificate of professional qualification or doesn’t have a domicile in Austria. The latter requirement, however, doesn’t apply to citizens of states which are member of the European Economic Area (EEA) and have their domicile within the EEA or to Swiss citizens domiciled either in Switzerland or in an EEA member state. 4 Reglementierte Gewerbe, § 94 Gewerbeordnung (sec. 94 Trade Regulations Act). 5 Sec. 108 Trade Regulations Act. 6 Sec. 111 Trade Regulations Act. 7 Sec. 126 Trade Regulations Act. 8 sec 9 para 1 Trade Regulations Act. 9 Sec. 39 para 2 Trade Regulations Act.