AUSTRIA | MICHAEL WUKOSCHITZ 63 the refund of all payments received by facilitators of linked travel arrangements from travellers to the extent that a travel service, which is part of connected travel services, is not provided as a result of their insolvency, and the return journey if the facilitator of linked travel arrangements is responsible for the carriage; and where applicable, the necessary costs of continuing the package or the linked travel arrangement. Package organisers and traders facilitating linked travel arrangements are collectively referred to under the awkward term “Reiseleistungsausübungsberechtigte” (which means “traders that are authorised to provide travel services”)42. They can choose to provide insolvency protection either through an insurance policy, a bank guarantee or a guarantee from a public corporation. The sum insured must be whichever the highest43 of the following: 13,000 €; or 18% of the annual turnover; or 50% of the turnover in the peak month, For this purpose, the traders have to notify the authority of the intended turnover figures for the coming calendar year and its peak month or the two coming years and their respective peak months, taking into regard the turnover figures of the actual year. The insurance contract must be governed by Austrian law and it must grant the traveller a direct claim against the insurer that is independent of the insurance certificate (policy). The contract period must be of at least twelve months and the insurance cover must extend to all bookings made during the contract period plus a supplementary liability period of one or two months44. In a guarantee contract, the guarantor has to provide the benefits to which the traveller is entitled under an insurance contract, as stated before. The guaranteed sum must correspond to the sum insured. The tasks of the central contact point, pursuant to Article 18(2) to (4) of the PTD, are to be performed by the Federal Ministry for Digitalisation and Economy45. 42 Sec. 3 Package Travel Regulation. 43 Sec. 4 para 1 Package Travel Regulation. 44 Sec. 5 Package Travel Regulation. 45 Bundesminsterium für Digitalisierung und Wirtschaftsstandort.
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