Slovakia has introduced travel package regulation

On 15 May 2018, the new Act on Package Tour and Linked Travel Arrangements was passed in Slovakia. The Act is a transposition of the New EU Package Travel Directive and aims to provide protection for customers when purchasing a combination of travel services from a single point of sale online or offline.

The Act introduces a key new concept, the “linked travel arrangement” ("LTA"). The LTA protects travellers who buy two or more travel services from separate suppliers through a single purchase point (for example an online booking site or call centre), and travellers who purchase additional travel services up to 24 hours after their initial purchase.

An LTA occurs, for example, if a passenger first reserves a flight, and then the online retailer offers a second travel service at the chosen destination, such as accommodation or car rental, with a link to a service provider. The new concept of the “LTA” therefore widens the scope of what can be deemed a service package and what may constitute grounds for action against a company.

Due to one of the most significant obligations imposed by the directive, the travel organizer must now protect itself against insolvency so that if it goes bankrupt, travellers will be refunded in full. According to the Act, this protection may be provided through either insurance or bank guarantee. Compared to the previous Slovakian legislation, the minimum protection threshold for insolvency increased from 25% to 30% of the planned tour sales.

One significant change introduced by the new Act is that any legal entity offering products meeting the criteria for travel services or LTAs may only do so if they have a travel agency trade licence. The result is that, alongside existing travel agencies, various accommodation service providers, carriers, car rental companies or airlines must also obtain a travel agency trade licence if they wish to offer travel services or linked travel arrangements.

The Act further stipulates that all travel agencies must meet the credibility requirement, which has to be proved by affidavit. Newly established agencies are required to send this affidavit within 15 days of receiving their trade licence. Existing travel agencies established before 1 January 2019 do not have this obligation. However, if they are controlled by the Slovak Trade Inspection ("SOI"), the travel agency will be required to submit an affidavit.

The Act also specifies some items of pre-contractual information that must be made available to a traveller before signing a package travel contract. Certain items, including the description of the main characteristics of the travel service and the total price, are deemed to be an “integral part” of the contract and cannot be altered unless the parties expressly agree. Travellers will not be liable for any costs or charges that they were not notified about before signing the contract.

Travellers will be entitled to cancel a contract before it starts on payment of a “justifiable” termination fee. Travel agencies cannot charge termination fees when the traveller cancels due to “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances” at the destination or its immediate vicinity that “significantly affect” either the operation of the package or the carriage of passengers to the destination.

The supervisory body in the Slovak Republic is the SOI. If a travel agency has insufficient insolvency protection, the SOI prohibits it from selling travel services and linked travel arrangements. It can also impose sanctions of up to 70,000 euros for breach of the provisions.

According to the Act, the SOI will publish a list of approved travel agencies on its website. This information is particularly important for customers who will be able to check whether their travel agency has insolvency insurance. For this purpose, travel agencies must provide the necessary information to the SOI within three months of the effective date of the Act. Since the Act will come into force on 1 January 2019, that means by 1 April 2019.

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