Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

SPAIN | SERGIO CASTEL GAYÁN 1181 liquidity of the organisers or retailers, travel services cease to be performed, are not to be implemented or are to be implemented only partially, or where service providers require travellers to pay for them. Following the insolvency, the guarantee must be available and the traveller should be able to easily access the guaranteed protection, without prejudice to being offered the continuation of the package. Reimbursements for unexecuted travel services shall be made without undue delay upon the request of the traveller. The protection against the insolvency of the organiser and the retailer will benefit travellers regardless of their place of residence, the place of departure, the place where the package was sold or the Member State in which the guarantor is located in the event of insolvency. Thus, organisers and retailers of package tours established in Spain will be required to provide a guarantee and adapt it where necessary. Such guarantee may be instituted by the creation of a guarantee fund, the purchase of insurance, a guarantee or other financial guarantee, as determined by the competent authorities. If passenger transport is included in the package travel contract, a guarantee for the repatriation of passengers shall be provided and the package may be continued. Similarly, organisers and retailers not established in a Member State of the European Union who sell or offer package tours in Spain, or by any means direct such activities to Spain, shall also be obliged to provide such security. In particular, the scheme of this guarantee is informed by the following notes: • The guarantee must be effective and cover reasonably foreseeable costs. • Cover the amount of payments made directly by travellers, or by a third party on their behalf, regarding the combined journeys in high season, taking into account the period between advance payments and final payments and the termination of package travel, as well as the estimated cost of repatriations in the event of insolvency. • The necessary coverage may be calculated on the basis of the most recent trade data, such as the turnover for package tours carried out in the previous financial year, but shall be adjusted in the event of increased risks, especially due to a significant increase in the sale of these trips. • Where the performance of the package travel is affected by the insolvency of the organiser or the retailer, the guarantee shall be activated free of charge for repatriations and, where necessary, for the financing of accommodation prior to repatriation, without involving any advance payment by the traveller.

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