Tour Organisers and Suppliers: Partners or Opponents in the Crisis? Michael Wukoschitz1 1. Introduction; 2. Termination of the Package Travel Contract; 2.1. Termination by the traveller; 2.2. Termination by the organiser; 2.3. Consequences of termination; 3. The IH&RA/UFTAA Code of Practice; 4. The Legal Doctrine of “Frustration of Purpose” or “Discontinuation of the Basis of the Transaction”; 4.1. Austria; 4.2. Germany; 4.3. United Kingdom; 4.4. Spain; 5. Application of the Doctrine of “Frustration of Purpose” or “Discontinuation of the Basis of the Transaction” in Various Case Scenarios related to the COVID-19 Pandemic; 5.1. Destination affected by a high infection rate and/or a lockdown of public life; 5.2. Carriage of tourists affected by a travel ban; 5.3. Carriage affected by a flight ban or (expected) flight restrictions; 5.4. Other essential services affected; 6. Conclusions. 1. INTRODUCTION The Corona pandemic resulted in many holiday or travel packages either cancelled by the organiser or terminated by the respective travellers. The reasons were the health risks caused by the pandemic on the one hand and restrictions imposed by state authorities on the other hand. The latter included landing bans in air travel, travel bans, curfews, operating bans for certain businesses and others more. While the PTD 2015 contains explicit rules on the termination of package contracts the contractual relations between organisers and their suppliers are not covered by the Directive and are largely, if not exclusively, subject to national law. While one would assume that tour operators and service providers are more or less in the “same boat”, this situation makes it difficult for organisers to enforce their rights and to recover money that was paid for services that were ultimately not provided. 1 President Emeritus of International Forum of Travel and Tourism Advocates.
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