The Legal Impacts of COVID-19 in the Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Industry

THE ITALIAN WAY TO DEAL WITH THE PANDEMIC 185 and the traveller must surrender to the choice made by the organiser. Italian tour operators have always chosen to issue the voucher to their customers, with some of them even allowing the voucher to be transferred to another traveller who meets the conditions applicable to that contract. However, there are also some practical problems in managing the voucher, for example, the voucher is usually personal and cannot be transferred to another traveller, or some tour operators may not allow the change of destination. Furthermore, the annual deadline exposes the traveller to the risk that the voucher expires and cannot be redeemed. Perhaps, it is possible to envisage some solutions to facilitate the use of the voucher, in case the situation continues for an extended period of time: the creation of a kind of “voucher bank” or the establishment of a clearinghouse (eventually managed by an international organisation), or the recognition of cash points to be redeemed, for example. Finally, the use of the voucher gave rise to some commercial problems, in particular, many travel agents who have reimbursed their customers are still waiting for the return by the air carriers of the sums paid. According to IATA estimates – which insists on the need to accept vouchers – the costs of refunds in the second quarter of the year would amount to over 35 billion US dollars. 4. PACKAGE TRAVEL CONTRACTS AFTER LAW NO. 27/2020 The measures adopted according to Law-Decrees No. 9 and 18/2020 have recently taken a definitive structure with the conversion into law of the aforementioned provisions. According to the new Italian regulation, Article 88-bis of Law No. 27 of 24 April 2020, containing economic support measures for families, workers and companies connected to the epidemiological emergency from COVID-19, refers expressly to the reimbursement of transport tickets, lodging contracts and tourist packages. First, the law provision declares that, pursuant to and for the purposes of Article 1463 of the Italian Civil Code, the supervening impossibility of performance occurs in relation to transport (air, rail, maritime, bus), hospitality and package travel contracts, stipulated: a) by the subjects against whom the quarantine with active surveillance has been ordered or the fiduciary homestay with active surveillance by the competent health authority, in implementation of the measures adopted by the Government, concerning contracts to be performed in the same quarantine period or homestay;

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