Derecho del Turismo en las Américas

On Tourism Law 69 Tourism Law did not arise until it succeeded in bending and transforming traditional legal institutions to the touristic element, to the “touristic purpose” ( finalità turistica ). Before creating new institutions, – and tourism will do it – Tourism Law had to deal with traditional legal institutions, in order to shape the “new”. The code – more precisely, the codes that arose from the codification process of the law that characterised the whole 19 th century, from the Code Napoléon to the Spanish and German codifications – have regulated the transport contract, the lease, the deposit. However, the rules were the same, irrespective of whether one travelled for work, necessity or pleasure; whether one rented an accommodation to live in it or for vacation; whether one deposited luggage in a hotel or goods at the general warehouse. Enjoyment, vacation or holiday were only “motives”. Motives do not have causal relevance as motives are irrelevant to the law. 4. We can identify three events that have modified the framework outlined above: the Convention on the liability of Hotel‑keepers concerning the Property of their Guests, signed in Paris on 17 December 1962; the International Convention on travel contracts (CCV – Convention internationale relative au contrat de voyage ) of 1970; and the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (Sixth Section) of 12 March 2002 – Procedure No. C168/00 – on the reimbursement of moral damages for “ruined holiday”. The first event led to changes in the regulation of the hotel contract; the second drew the content of the travel contract; and the third paved the way for identifying the notion of vacation and holiday. Together, they brought about the identification of the so‑called tourism cause or, also called, to the “tourist purpose”. They, accompanied by the development of consumer protection rules, will lead to the identification of the specific characteristics of Tourism Law and its definition. 5. In the legal systems with a composite structure (be it federal or regional), we may find similar problems, so that the regulation of tourism is fragmented into several levels. This is the case, for instance, of Argentina, where we find “competencias federales, nacionales y provinciales” (federal, national and provincial authorities). This is also true in Mexico, where we find federal, state and municipal authorities (competencias federales, estatales y municipales), in Brazil and in the Federal Republic of Germany. This leads to complications similar to the Italian ones, where the authority is debates between the State,