European Union: Public consultation of stakeholders on the "European Charter for Sustainable and Responsible Tourism"
In the framework of the implementation of Action 15 of the 2010 Commission Communication on tourism COM(2010)352: "The European Charter for Sustainable and Responsible Tourism", Tourism Policy Development Unit has launched a stakeholders consultation which is open till 20 April 2012.
The consultation concerns the first draft text of the Charter as well as several possible open questions, assembled in the Questionnaire.
Find more information (Consultation Document) here>>.
If you are interested in actively participating in this consultation please send an email "Re: Request-documents for the consultation on the Charter" to entr-tourism@ec.europa.eu to receive the annexes mentioned in the Consultation Document.
Source: European Commission
European Court of Justice: insolvency protection also applies in case of a package organiser’s fraudulent conduct
The Landgericht Hamburg (Regional Court, Hamburg, Germany) asked the ECJ whether the protection of consumers pursuant to article 7 of the Package Travel Directive (PTD) also applied where the insolvency was attributable to fraudulent conduct on the part of the travel organiser. The Landgericht Hamburg must rule on the action brought by Mr Blödel-Pawlik against HanseMerkur Reiseversicherung AG, a German insurance company, concerning its refusal to refund the cost of package travel which did not take place because of the insolvency of the travel organiser, Rhein Reisen GmbH. The travel organiser – which, in the view of the Landgericht, had never really intended to organise the trip which Mr Blödel-Pawlik had booked for himself and his wife – became insolvent because it had embezzled the money paid by prospective travellers. It had taken out insurance against insolvency with HanseMerkur Reiseversicherung AG and had provided Mr Blödel-Pawlik with two notices of guarantee confirming that the cost of the trip would be refunded if the trip did not take place owing to the organiser’s insolvency. According to the insurance company, however, the Package Travel Directive is not intended to protect travellers against fraudulent conduct on the part of a package travel organiser.
In judgment of Feb. 16, 2012, the ECJ held that the protection conferred on travellers under the PTD in the event of insolvency on the part of the package travel organiser applies even where the insolvency is attributable to the organiser’s own fraudulent conduct. The directive is specifically aimed at arming consumers against the consequences of insolvency, whatever its causes. Accordingly, the fact that the insolvency of the travel organiser is attributable to its own fraudulent conduct cannot constitute an obstacle to the refund of money paid over or to the repatriation of travellers.
Source: ECJ press release 13/12 of Feb. 16, 2012
Find full text of judgment in Case C-134/11 - Jürgen Blödel-Pawlik v HanseMerkur Reiseversicherung AG here>>.
"Reviews you can trust" - UK Advertising Standards Authority finds TripAdvisor ads misleading
Claims on tripadvisor.co.uk, a website providing holiday and travel consumer reviews, stated "... read reviews from real travellers ... TripAdvisor is the world's largest travel site, enabling travellers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travellers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features ... TripAdvisor.com features: More than 50 million honest travel reviews and opinions from real travellers around the world". Review pages on the website featured the TripAdvisor logo next to the claim "Reviews you can trust" above a chart that gave details of the rating summary and percentage recommendation of the relevant location.
KwikChex Ltd and two hotels challenged before the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) whether these claims were misleading and could be substantiated, because they understood that TripAdvisor did not verify the reviews on their website and therefore could not prove that the reviews were genuine or from real travellers.
TripAdvisor said they did not claim to be 100% fraud free; no review site could guarantee that it was 100% free of fraudulent content. They said, however, that they did use advanced and highly effective fraud detection systems, and dedicated substantial resources to identifying and minimising any non-genuine content. Thus, the practical impact of small numbers of fraudulent reviews was effectively negligible.
The ASA considered that consumers would understand the claims "Reviews you can trust", "... read reviews from real travellers", "TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travellers" and "More than 50 million honest travel reviews and opinions from real travellers around the world" to mean that they could be certain that the reviews posted on the site were from genuine travellers, and accurately reflected those travellers’ experiences of the places they visited. However, reviews could be placed on the site without any form of verification, and whilst TripAdvisor took steps to monitor and deal with suspicious activity, it was possible that non-genuine content would appear on the site undetected. As the claims implied that consumers could be assured that all review content on the TripAdvisor site was genuine, while that might not be the case, ASA concluded that the claims were misleading.
TripAdvisor was told not to claim or imply that all the reviews that appeared on the website were from real travellers, or were honest, real or trusted.
Find full text of ASA Adjucation of Feb. 1, 2012 here>>.
Germany: new reference for ECJ preliminary ruling regarding Reg. 261/2004
On Nov. 25, 2011, the German Amtsgericht Düsseldorf has filed a motion for preliminary ruling to the ECJ regarding the follwoing issue:
Is a passenger entitled to compensation under Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 if the departure time of a flight has been delayed for a period of time falling within the limits defined in Article 6(1) of the regulation, but the flight arrives at the final destination at least three hours after the scheduled time of arrival?
Case C-594/11, Becker v. Air France
A similar reference had been filde by the German Supreme Court (BGH) on Dec. 9, 2010.
EU Transport Commissioner receives commitment from Cruise industry to fully engage in review of passenger ship safety rules
Vice-President Siim Kallas, European Commissioner for Transport today was briefed by the board of the European Cruise Council about cruise ship safety. Vice President Kallas announced that the Commission strongly supports a passenger ship safety review at IMO (International Maritime Organisation) to ensure that European citizens can expect state of the art safety measures in place - no matter where they board a passenger ship. The EU Transport Commissioner outlined the need for a twin-track approach with the IMO. Following its ongoing passenger ship safety review, the EU will either propose re-enforcing recent IMO standards or propose new EU minimum norms, some of which could form the basis for new IMO standards.
The following steps are planned next:
The Commission services will launch a public consultation process on the passenger ship safety, legislative review, during spring 2012 (April 2012).
The Vice President will host, in spring 2012 a conference with stakeholders on the Safety of Passenger Ships.
Following the Costa Concordia accident, the IMO has announced that it will consider issues relating to the safety of passenger ships, at the IMO Maritime Safety Committee meeting from 16-25 May 2012.
The Commission will bring forwards, if necessary, proposals to adapt existing rules on the safety of passenger ship safety to new developments in the sector before the end of the year. The Vice President will provide more detail about the possible content and timing of his proposals before Summer 2012.
Source: EUC press release RAPID IP/12/97 of 03/02/2012
UNESCO: cruise ships should steer clear of Venice lagoon
UNESCO has called on the Italian government to restrict access of large cruise ships to culturally and ecologically important areas, particularly Venice and its Lagoon which are visited by some 300 large cruise ships a year.
In a letter sent to the Italian Environment Minister on behalf of Director-General Irina Bokova, the Assistant Director-General for Culture Francesco Bandarin writes that “the tragic accident [of the Costa Concordia on 13 January] reinforces longstanding concern over the risk that large cruise liners pose to sites inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, particularly the Venice Lagoon and the Basin of San Marco.”
After presenting UNESCO’s condolences for the tragic loss of life caused by Costa Concordia accident and praising the efforts of the rescue teams and local population in dealing with the disaster, the letter urges the government to act quickly to develop alternative plans for maritime traffic around the World Heritage site of Venice.
The cruise liner traffic in Venice is particularly damaging because of the fragile structure of the city. The ships cause water tides that erode the foundations of buildings. They contribute to pollution and impact the cityscape as they dwarf monuments in the heart of the city.
Source: UNESCO press release of Jan. 23, 2012
Germany: appellate court upholds denial of injunction against hotel review website
The plaintiff is operating a hotel in Berlin. The defendant is running a website provding for online booking of accomodation and travel packages. The website also has a section where users can post unattributed comments and reviews on hotels. These reviews included some negative comments on the plaintiff's hotel.
Claiming that the denfendant had established a kind of 'virtual pillory' where users without any rsik and without any control could publish their comments on the plaintiff even if they actually never had been accomodated in plaintiff's hotel, the plaintiff filed a motion for an injunction to interdict the defendant the publication of any unattributed comments on plaintiff's hotel.
At first instance, the Landesgericht Hamburg dismissed the claim. Upon plaintiff's appeal, the appellate court (OLG Hamburg) upheld this decision arguing that in balancing the mutual interests such claim could not be granted. The plaintiff could require the defendant to delete untrue statements on the hotel but had no right to be completely excluded form any review. Freedom of expression would also include a right to publish comments without disclosing one's name.
Source: OLG Hamburg press release of Jan. 18, 2012 on judgement 5 U 51/11 of Jan. 18, 2012
European Economic and Social Committee publishes opinion on the ‘functioning and application of air passenger rights'
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) considers that there is a need to undertake a legislative reform of Regulation No 261/2004 in order to consolidate all air passenger rights into a single text. This reform should firstly, incorporate the body of case-law laid down by the Court of Justice of the European Union and secondly, attempt to define and identify the practical scope of what is understood by the term ‘extraordinary circumstance’, determine the precise extent of the right to assistance, and address all other others aspects mentioned in the present opinion in order to guarantee a high level of protection for passengers.
Read full text of opinion here>>.
European Union: Costa Concordia accident and Commission review of passenger ship safety legislation
Vice-President Siim Kallas, European Commissioner for Transport has asked that the currently ongoing review of EU passenger ship safety legislation take fully into account any lessons to be learnt from the Costa Concordia tragedy. The review will prioritise, in particular, the issues of: design and stability of passenger ships, technological developments in the sector, crew training and safe operation, including emergency evacuation procedures. Vice-President Kallas will outline the Commission's position to the European Parliament's Transport Committee on Tuesday 24 January 2012.
Source: EU press releases RAPID MEMO/12/25 of 20/01/2012; find full text here>>.
Austria: tour organiser not liable for costs of extended stay caused by flight cancellation due to the ash cloud crisis
The plaintiff had booked a holiday package and spent her vacations in Gran Canaria in April 2010. Her return flight scheduled for April 17, 2010 had been cancelled because of the air space closures caused by the 'ash cloud'. Thus she had to stay in Gran Canaria until April 23, 2010 and bear the extra costs of this extend stay (mainly: hotel and telephone costs). Back home she sued the tour organiser for compensation. The appelate court (LG Innsbruck), however, dismissed the claim against the tour organiser. Other than th first instance court, the appelate court followed the arguments of the tour orgnaiser and held that pursuant to Reg. 261/2004/EC it had been the operating carrier's responsibility to provide free hotel accomodation and telephone calls. Any action for compensation with regard to a failure to comply with these obligations could therefore only be brought against the operating carrier while the tour organiser had had no obligation to provide these services and had not been at fault with regard to the cancellation.
Case: LG Innsbruck 6.12.2011, 1 R 158/11h
