THE EUROPEAN AND GREEK LEGAL FRAMEWORKS 153 The traveller, on his side, has the right to terminate the package travel contract without paying any termination fee if unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occur at the place of destination or its immediate vicinity or significantly affect the performance of the package or significantly affect the carriage of passengers to the destination (Article 12(2) PTD). If the traveller terminates the package travel contract before the start of the package in the event of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, he shall be entitled to a full refund of any payments made for the package, within fourteen (14) days after the termination of the contract, but shall not be entitled to additional compensation (Article 12 paragraphs (3) and (4) PTD). Nonetheless, when it comes to refunds to travellers, what happens in practice is that the above-mentioned rules do not apply in a situation such as the one we encounter with COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of tour operators and travel companies in Europe’s major outbound markets disregard the rules of the PTD, especially those regarding traveller refunds. Travellers across the European Union see that their right to reimbursement of a cancelled package is not respected since tour operators and travel agents replace monetary refunds with vouchers or refund credit notes. Commissioner for Justice and Consumers, Mr Didier Reynders, addressed a letter to all Member States pointing out that appropriate actions are needed at national level which will strike the right balance between consumer protection and support to travel businesses17. According to the Commissioner, with regards to cancelled holidays, the traveller’s right to be reimbursed under the Package Travel Directive also applies in case of “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances”, such as those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, in light of the extraordinary situation, the Commissioner encouraged travellers to consider accepting a voucher which allows them to postpone their holidays to a later point in time, under certain conditions or be monetarily reimbursed at the expiry of the voucher. Such voucher should be reimbursable if not used and secured against possible insolvency of the tour operator or travel agent. III.2. Current Greek Legal Framework Regarding Travellers’ Rights in Case of Termination of the Package Travel Contract 17 European Commission, DG Justice and Consumers, COVID-19: Commissioner Reynders repeats his call for respect of consumer protection and support to travel and tourism businesses for package travel holidays, 9th April 2020. Available in: https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/just/item-detail.cfm?item_id=674033 (accessed on 16/04/2020).
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