THE ITALIAN WAY TO DEAL WITH THE PANDEMIC 187 In such cases, the organiser, as an alternative to the cash refund provided for in Article 41, par. 4 and 6, of the Italian Tourism Code, may: a) offer the traveller a substitute package of either an equivalent value, a higher quality or a lower quality with a refund of the price difference: b) proceed with the refund; or c) issue a voucher, also through the retailer, to be used within a year of its issue, for an amount equal to the refund due. Notwithstanding Article 41, par. 6, of the Italian Tourism Code, on the one hand, the refund is paid and the voucher is issued as soon as the refunds or vouchers have been received from the individual service providers and in any case no later than sixty days from the expected date of commencement of the trip. On the other hand, under to Article 41, par. 5, lett. b), of the Italian Tourism Code, the organiser can exercise the right of withdrawal from the package travel contracts, having as destination foreign States where the landing, docking or arrival, due to the epidemiological emergency, is prevented or prohibited, and in any case when the execution of the contract is prevented (in whole or in part) by measures taken due to this emergency by national, international or foreign State authorities. In such circumstances, as an alternative to the cash refund provided for in Article 41, par. 5 and 6, of the Italian Tourism Code, the organiser may offer the traveller a substitute package, proceed with the refund or issue a voucher, also through the retailer, to be used within a year of its issue, for an amount equal to the refund due. In this case, the refund is paid and the voucher is issued as soon as the refunds or vouchers have been received from the individual service providers, and no later than sixty days from the expected date of commencement of the trip. Interestingly, the carrier and the hotelier will refund the amount paid in favour of the person from whom they received the payment or issue a voucher of the same amount to be used within one year from its issue. It is also worth noticing that these provisions apply if the package travel has been purchased or booked through a travel agency or a booking portal, also by derogation from the conditions agreed. Finally, it is important to emphasise that, with a general closing disposition, Article 88-bis, par. 11, Law No. 27/2020 provides that, even outside the cases considered, for all the contracts established with effect from 11 March 2020 to 30 September 2020, on the whole national territory – also for the services to be rendered abroad and for services in favour of foreign contractors –, when the services are not rendered due to the effects deriving from the COVID-19-related
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