Tourism Law in Europe

FRANCE | LAURENCE JÉGOUZO 195 to apply online and open an account. The creation of a personal account for each application allows real-time monitoring of the examination of each file. When the registration committee has validated the operator’s application, a certificate of registration as well as the date of entry in the register are sent to the operator concerned, by post but also electronically. The operator can also download his certificate of registration through his account. The Register of Tour and Holiday Operators contains descriptive sheets for each operator, including the following information: number and date of registration, company name, legal form, registered office address, legal and statutory representatives, name and address of guarantor and insurer, which is a new guarantee for the consumer. Maintenance and updating of the register: It is the responsibility of Atout France to maintain and update it. Thus, each operator’s descriptive sheet is systematically updated after modification of any of its components. It also includes the following information: notice of termination of the financial guarantee, removal from the register and declaration of exemption from seizure. Only the refusal to register and the removal from the register are subject to an information procedure. The use of new technologies allows for a much greater reactivity and thus a better legal security for consumers. Statistics: As soon as the Legal Act of 22 July 2009 came into force, 6,808 tour and tourism operators and holiday operators have been registered. The registrations in the register of tour and holiday operators Atout France, which lists travel producers and sellers, reached 12,626 companies at the beginning of 2018. Positive assessment: One year after the entry into force of the reform, the new system had already been mastered and judged positively by all the actors concerned (professional organisations administrations, guarantors, insurers, CFEs and registry offices). Indeed, from 1 January 2010 to 5 April 2011, 4,462 tour and holiday operators, including 813 new operators, were registered by the registration committee. Since entering in force in January 2010 the register of tour and holiday operators has experienced phases of strong growth in the number of registrants: in spring 2012, the register showed a net balance of 5,696 operators, including 1,415 newly registered companies. This assessment shows the success of the legal framework. A large number of operators who already held a licence, in fact, decided to register with Atout France at the first year. This strong voluntary membership to Atout France could be explained by the following reasons

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