Package travel: to be or not to be?

Becoming a package organiser or not: that is the question that comes to mind of hoteliers nowadays. While the paramount objective of the Package Travel Directive (PTD) was to enhance travellers’ protection, it created hurdles for hotels and impacted travellers’ experience. It’s now up for revision.

The PTD regulates pre-arranged package holidays and self-customised packages where travellers choose different elements from a single point of sale. It was revised in 2015 to reflect the development of online linked bookings. The COVID-19 pandemic and Thomas Cook bankruptcy unveiled issues relating to the application of the rules including insolvency costs.

HOTREC replied to the European Commission (EC) public consultation on 10 May. We support a targeted revision of the PTD to better reflect the specificities of hospitality businesses in Europe. We call in particular for a simplification of the scope, definitions and pre-contractual information obligations; an extension of the list of services sold with a simple hotel room without constituting a package; the maintaining of flexibility around pre-payments to manage no shows; and a needed reflection on the burden raised by insolvency protection requirements for small establishments.

As a member of the EC expert group, HOTREC will contribute to an evaluation study and impact assessment on a potential revision.