which will immediately close the completed event

Travel agents call in turn to the debate on the liberalisation of services. The European directive, which should be formally adopted towards the end of the year, currently integrates the tourism sector, and the debate focuses on the question of free casual tourism benefits: like a traditional agency, a site of travel of the 25 Member States will provide temporary services on the Internet and target users of another country. A festival, a trade show, a sporting event or just the beginning of the summer abroad can justify the opening of a temporary site... which will immediately close the completed event. "These occasional offerings will be of the law of the issuing country, while the permanent sites will be subject to the legislation of the host country," explains France Pierret, legal adviser to the Ectaa.

Non-defined criteria

For example, a Swedish permanent site for French tourists will have to justify the licence of travel agent, under the Code of French tourism. In the event of breach of contract of travel package (non-reserved hotel, deletion of... planned excursions), the leader of the site will be also subject to section 15 of the Act on confidence in the digital economy. It will have to take responsibility of right for faults and negligence committed by the hotelier, carrier or the operator involved in the Organization of the package. In case of dispute, the traveller can turn against this identified responsible.

The user who will have attended a casual site will be significantly more complicated life... except to know the law of the issuing country of the offer. "Rest that the tourist should in principle benefit from the guarantees set forth by the law of the consumption of its national legislation", said France Pierret. Which deprives any recourse. Another difficulty arises nevertheless as the occasional tourist activity criteria are not defined. The duration and frequency of this activity are taken into account by the European Court of justice. "The problem is that the definition of temporary activity still varies depending on the country." "Should be a Community harmonisation of this concept," said Richard Vainopoulos, President of the TourCom network.

How can the traveller to navigate this mosaic of legal regimes The more exposed is not one who unwisely booked on the Internet a "dynamic packaging" "This formula is an assemblage of tourism benefits made up on the initiative of the user." "Reserves, for example, a dry flight on an official French website, retains a hotel on another site, and a descent in canoe on a third site located outside the European Union", explained Frédéric Vanhoutte, Chairman of the Committee the United Internet and President of Level, an association of such Voyages-sncf, Lastminute, Expedia or Opodo sites... This package type is not a package within the meaning of French law, nor of the European directive of 1990. If the trip goes wrong, the client may not recover by invoking the responsibility of the travel agent.

Tourism at two speeds

To remedy the legal uncertainty resulting from these different situations, the best parade would be the information of the buyer: "travel agencies shall, in the future, identify cases where the client will not benefit from the protective provisions of French law on their site", suggests Frédéric Vanhoutte. "Leaving the profession the initiative to regulate the market." But, believe, "it's never too late to intervene with authorities European and French to advance the interests of the profession", said Frédéric Vanhoutte.

Other professionals seek outright exclusion of the travel agencies in the field of application of the directive. They fear the emergence of a two-tier tourism which would undermine the protection of travellers. "The risk is real for consumers to find themselves facing a market and legal guarantees completely lawless", considers Richard Vainopoulos.