134 LEGAL IMPACTS OF COVID-19 IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY 4. AMENDMENTS TO THE TOURISM SERVICES ACT (ART. 38A) 4.1. Special Circumstances Caused by COVID-19 By the Amendments to the Tourism Services Act (TSA) – in force since 8 April 202011 –, special measures have been envisaged to avoid unfavourable economic developments in the tourist sector caused by an epidemic. The provision of specific services in tourism during an epidemic has been provided for differently. The aim of these amendments has been, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Croatia, to help entrepreneurs and facilitate their entrepreneurial activities after the pandemic, as well as efficiently and quickly alleviate the economic damage sustained by it. One of the measures has been to expressly provide for the contractual relations between travellers and organisers of package travel arrangements in the conditions of the pandemic. On the one hand, a new right has been introduced, allowing travellers to terminate the package travel contracts due to the exceptional circumstances caused by COVID-19 (Art. 38a). The traveller’s right to a full refund of any payment for the package is protected by a voucher issued by the organiser. On the other hand, to protect the organiser from insolvency, the organiser’s obligation to a full refund of all payments has been postponed for 180 days following the cessation of special circumstances. Besides the “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances” taken from the 2015 Package Travel Directive, a new definition of “special circumstances” is introduced in Croatian Tourism Law. The Tourism Services Act provides for a special definition of “special circumstances”, expressly defining it as “an event, or a particular situation which could not have been foreseen or prevented, and which constitutes a danger for the citizens’ lives and health, for their property of higher value, or which causes a significant damage to the environment, to economic activities, or sustains major economic damage” (Art. 7 TSA). 11 Official Gazette 42/90 (7 April 2020).
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