Travel & Hospitality Tech Outlook | Thursday, March 03, 2022
The travel agency and tour operating representatives met in Brussels to draw lessons from the COVID pandemic and the past crises to help overcome current uncertain times and presented suggestions to improve the European legislation governing this sector.
FREMONT, CA:The European Travel Agents and Tour Operators Association (ECTAA) and the Deutscher Reiseverband (DRV) invited the European travel sector to a gathering in Brussels. The travel industry needs to be ready to face significant obstacles in an uncertain time. It is unquestionably important to reflect on the issues encountered, and the solutions developed during the COVID epidemic.
With Frank Oostdam, President of ECTAA, and Dirk Inger, Managing Director of DRV, Istvan Ujhelyi, Member of the European Parliament and Vice Chair of the Transport and Tourism Committee, and Dr Ute Dallmayer, CEO of Lufthansa City Center Niederrhein, presented their perspectives on several issues, including the lack of refunds, the abrupt changes in travel advice, and the practical incoherence of some legal obligations. Additionally, they discussed with the audience the best methods to enhance the current package travel directive, which is crucial for travellers and travel suppliers.
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Broader, more accessible insolvency protection applied to service providers, improved B2B refunds, flexible scope, and crisis-specific remedies are all issues that deserve to be addressed immediately, said Frank Oostdam, president of ECTAA. However, modifying the PTD alone would be useless and harmful to SMEs without concurrent reform of passenger laws. He added when the Commission raises the problem of prepayment, it has to look at all sides of the question: for instance, if the clients do not make any prepayment in full, suppliers cannot be paid in full by the tour operators before the provision of the service.
Dirk Inger, Managing Director of DRV, stated that fair competition is most important. Package vacations compete with one another and with one another's prices. Consumer protection regulations shouldn't be raised in the already very consumer-friendly package travel sector because customers also compare them to individual services, which are governed by many fewer rules. Otherwise, he said there is a significant risk that weaker consumer protection can ultimately develop. And that's precisely the time when cost-conscious consumers are more likely to use unprotected individual services.
travel sector because customers also compare them to individual services, which are governed by many fewer rules. Otherwise, he said there is a significant risk that weaker consumer protection can ultimately develop. And that's precisely the time when cost-conscious consumers are more likely to use unprotected individual services.
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