Sustainable Tourism Law

THE OBLIGATIONS OF BRAZILIAN TRAVEL AGENCIES 433 In other words, the customer/consumer cancels the trip because of a position, sometimes justifiably so, and then requests the refund of the amount paid per trip. When the travel agent presents the customer with the amount that will be reimbursed and how much is being applied by the supplier (eg by the airline or the hotel) as a penalty, the consumer does not accept and then, often, the claim is transformed into a lawsuit. In such cases, it is normal for the travel agent to respond to the consumer by indicating the general rules and conditions of the penalties, as created by the supplier (airline, hotel), and therefore how the travel agency lacks themanagement and autonomy to resolve the matter. However, frequently travel agents find themselves in a vulnerable position. We make an agreement with the understanding that such cancellation and reimbursement rules really were solely created and managed by the supplier. However, when travel agents are asked about the provided information regarding the rules of the airline or hotel by the customer, we can be somewhat surprised. This happens because many travel agencies only inform the customer/ consumer about cancellation and refund rules posted in terms of general conditions and or contracts, at the time they send the voucher of the hotel or with the electronic air ticket! With this practice, the vulnerability of a travel agency is emphasized because the travel agency informed the customer/consumer only after the contract was concluded. Following the issuance of an air ticket or confirmation of a hotel reservation, as the payment confirmation and customer acceptance materialize, ie, the consumer is only aware of such conditions after the issuance of the booking is completed. If on the one hand, cancellation rules and reimbursement of an air ticket are really the responsibility of the air carrier, as the effective service provider, on the other hand, prior to celebrating a contract, the travel agency has the duty to report on all existing conditions and elements such as air fare or the reservation of a hotel. As a result, travel agencies sometimes respond in lawsuits involving discussions of penalties for cancellations and refunds, and even result in payment for material and/or moral damages; This does not happen because a travel agency must respond to rules that are not theirs, but because they fail to inform their client. These are practical examples that occur daily in the travel agency market, and represent the relevance of the rule expressed in the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, duly connected to Brazilian legislation as demonstrated in this paper.