On 16 June the European Commission adopted a proposal according to which transitional animal health requirements applicable to the movement of pet animals travelling with their owners to Finland, Ireland, Malta, Sweden and the United Kingdom are to be extended until 31 December 2011. The proposal will be discussed by ...

The e-borders programme, which is due to be fully in force by 2014, is aimed at tackling terrorism, crime and illegal immigration and allows passenger details to be checked against watch lists. However, travel operators from the rail, shipping and travel industries told MPs that the Home Office had not ...

At the start of the holiday season, the European Commission alerts consumers to the importance of adequate protection from the sun this summer and reminds them to look out for the clearer labelling regime on sunscreen bottles. The new labels - including a new UV-A logo or seal on bottles ...

The Revolution Will Be Microblogged: Iran's Election and the Power of TwitterBy Kevin Fayle on June 25, 2009 12:30 PM | No TrackBackshttp://blogs.findlaw.com/technologist/2009/06/the-revolution-will-be-microblogged-irans-election-and-the-power-of-twitter.htmlThe events that have unfolded in Iran following the contestedpresidential election have transfixed the world. Much of theinformation that has come out of (and into) the country has ...

Upon reference for preliminary ruling instituted by a Hungarian District Court (Budaőrsi Városi Bíróság), ECJ held that the protection which Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts confers on consumers extends to cases in which a consumer who has concluded with a seller or supplier a contract containing an ...

In an interview with Sandy Dhuyvetter of Travel Talk Radio, Al Anolik, founding member and president emeritus of IFTTA, shared his views on the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act currently pending before the US Congress.The interview can be read at eTurboNews here>>.

At traditional Krampus events in Austria (Krampus = Santa's devilish helper, the guy that punishes the bad kids on St. Nicholas day) -mainly in the western provinces - the the young men of the villages walk and dance through streets disguised as Krampus wearing birchs scaring and incidentally whipping visitors.Plaintiff ...

The Irish state regulator for tour operators and travel agents has advised the Irish government against extending the statutory compulsory licensing and bonding scheme to internet sellers of travel services.Report available at http://www.transport.ie/viewitem.asp?id=11263⟨=ENG&loc;=432Reported to IFTTA by Marc Mc Donald

Although the U.S. District Court in Illinois did not dismiss the case outright, it granted parts of YTB's motion to dismiss a class action brought against the multilevel marketing travel company by former referring travel agents, who charged that YTB operated an illegal pyramid system. The court dismissed allegations against ...

Commercial Court Barcelona (Juzgado de lo Mercantil 4, Barcelona) filed a reference for preliminary ruling to the European Court of Justice on whether the limit of liability referred to in Article 22.2 of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage, signed in Montreal on 28 May ...

Council Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts provides that unfair terms used in a contract concluded with a consumer by a seller or supplier are not binding on consumers. In a decision of June 4th, 2009 (Case C—243/08 - Pannon GSM Zrt. v. Erzsébet Sustikné Győrfi) ECJ held ...

Plaintiff, a hotel company, is running a hotel in Austria and a related website, the latter also indicating plaintiff's email address. Defendant, a German consumer, had made a room reservation through email. Plaintiff is claiming for payment of room rate and filed a law suit at the Austrian court where ...

During her holidays on the beach, plaintiff doze off under an umbrella. As the shadow moved she got exposed to sunshine for several hours. When she got up she suffered a circular collapse, fell and banged her head against the concrete border of a flowerbed.Her claim against the accident insurance ...

Form of order sought a declaration that the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 7 of the ptdPleas in law and main arguments1. By fixing a period of three months from the foreseen date of the end of travel for the purpose of making an application ...

The U.S. State Department has issued its annual alert on the coming of the Hurricane Season in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. The official Atlantic Hurricane Season runs from June through November. The alert expires on Dec. 4, 2009. It cites officials at ...

Following its decision of April 30, 2009, German Supreme Court(BGH) in a recent decision of May 28, 2009 (Xa ZR 113/08) confirmed that the miss of a connecting flight due to a delay of the feeding flight does not constitute "denied boarding" under Reg. 261/2004.Furthermore there was no claim for ...

The Califonia law suit was barely setteled when Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a similar law suit against YTB: again YTB is charged with operating an "unlawful pyramid sales scheme." Illinois charged that YTB violates the state's Consumer Fraud Act by misrepresenting that it is a travel agency "when ...

South Korean government is introducing a new category of visa for tourists who visit the country for medical purposes. The foreign medical tourist visa, M, is adopted in a bid to boost the nation's medical tourism industry as local hospitals and medical institutes have strongly requested the government to simplify ...

New EU results published yesterday show a "step change" in airline ticket selling websites across Europe in terms of compliance with consumer protection rules. The findings feature in a final report on an 18 month EU-wide process to crackdown on misleading advertising and unfair practices. As a result of an ...

The state of California's lawsuit against the multilevel marketing travel company YTB and its founders (see posting of Jan. 8, 2009) has been settled. In addition to paying $1 million in penalties costs and restitution, YTB will have more difficulty selling websites to prospective travel sellers. Plus, limits were imposed ...

The Australian Travel Compensation Fund says booking with a licensed agent is “more important than ever'”as more businesses struggle in the tough economic climate. The TCF has exceeded $50 million in payments to Australian travellers who have been left out of pocket after their travel agencies collapsed. However, travellers are ...

As the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) released its sixth monthly data installment for diverted commercial airline flights – flights that make unscheduled stops before they reach their final destinations, either to refuel, or because of a weather problem or some other in-flight emergency - a FlyersRights.org analysis shows that ...

Current rules force airlines to use the time slots at busy airports at least 80 percent of the time or face losing them the following season. After the European Parliament agreed to loosen these "use-or-lose rules", airlines will gain more flexibility in how they use take-off and landing slots: They ...

The 85th session of the UNWTO Executive Council, meeting in Mali, recommended Taleb Rifai for the post as Secretary-General for the four-year-period starting January 2010. The candidature of Mr. Rifai (Jordan) was supported by the Executive Council, in accordance with the UNWTO statutes. The recommendation will be presented for ratification ...

In a judgment of April 30, 2009 (Xa ZR 78/08), German Supreme Court (BGH) held that the miss of a connecting flight due to a delay of the feeder (both flights operated by the same airline and jointly booked as parts of one and the same contract for carriage) would ...

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has made its entire Bird Strike database available on a public website by April 24. Portions of the database have been publicly available since the information was first collected in 1990, but the public is now able to access all of the database's fields. Over ...

The Namibia Tourism Board (NTB), a statutory body to regulate and market the tourism industry established by an Act of Parliament (Act 21 of 2000), has introduced a number amendments to the Namibian Tourism Board Act, 2000 ( Act no. 21 of 2000), key elements of which are• Fostering of ...

Starwood Hotels & Resorts has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York accusing Hilton Hotels Corp. and two former Starwood executives of corporate espionage in the development of Hilton's new lifestyle brand "Denizen Hotels".Starwood is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctive relief plus ...

Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Juzgado de lo Mercantil 4, BarcelonaCase C-69/09 (Walz/Clickair)Question referred:Does the limit of liability referred to in Article 22.2 of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage, signed in Montreal on 28 May 1999, include both non-material damage and material ...