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LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OF TOURISM
Tourism consists of activities related to travel, hospitality and entertainment that are partly determined
by state regulations. The purpose of this paper is to a) explore the existing legal framework for tourism;
b) to present a critical view of private tourism sector on the state's regulation. The research was carried
out in 2017. Data were obtained a) from relevant secondary sources (laws, bylaws, EU directives,
websites, articles, books) and b) from in-depth semi-structured interviews. We utilize an approach of a
mixed-method research design. First, we conducted a review on existing regulations for running tourism
business in Slovenia. We supported our findings with empirical data, obtained by interviewing eight
representatives of private tourism entities and two state representatives, responsible for tourism. In the
results, we presented the legislation framework for running tourism business and highlight some
challenges on practical application of legal framework in tourism sector.
Keywords: tourism, regulation, legal framework.
Objective
Formulate a legal and regulatory framework for the sustainable development and management of
tourism, protection and conservation of natural and cultural resources; and, facilitation of the
involvement of private sector and local communities in tourism development activities. It reflects the
roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders; ensures the rights of international/local tourists; and,
ensures the rights and obligations of participating businesses, inbound-outbound tour operators and all
other concerned players in the tourism field.
Course outcome
Identify the role of legislation in tourism development.
Build consensus for tourism legislation through:
• consistency with National Development Policy;
• consistency with National Tourism Policy;
• review existing legal regulations governing tourism development;
• review existing classification guidelines which affect the quality of existing tourism facilities and
services and identify gaps and constraints;
• identify core legal issues;
• identify stakeholder groups;
• identify the range of legal tools available;
• address issues of enforcement;
• build in quality assurance and foster professionalism; and
• facilitate business development.
Identify the roles and responsibilities of various government agencies, at central and local level, in
tourism development.
Organize a series of workshops at the regional level with all stakeholders to identify current gaps and
constraints in legislation related to tourism planning, development, management and promotion.
Table of Contents
Objective .................................................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 1: The legal and regulatory framework of the travel and tourism industry....................... 5
1.1 law and tourism ..................................................................................................................... 5
1.1.1 What is Tourism Law? ................................................................................................... 6
1.1.2 Do We Need Tourism Laws? ......................................................................................... 6
1.1.3 Major Tourism Laws ...................................................................................................... 6
1.1.4 Bill of Rights .................................................................................................................. 7
1.1.5 Tourism Law Problems .................................................................................................. 7
1.2 legal and regulatory framework of the travel and tourism sector ......................................... 7
1.3– Explain the legal and regulatory framework of the travel and tourism sector .................... 8
1.4 – Discuss surface, sea and air transport law in relation to the carriage of passengers within the
legal and regulatory framework .................................................................................................. 9
1.5– Evaluate the impacts of the principles of health, safety and security legislation on the travel and
tourism sector ............................................................................................................................ 10
1.6 Analyse legislation that relates to equality .......................................................................... 12
1.7- Explain contract legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers ........................... 13
1.8- Explain consumer protection legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers ....... 14
1.9 Analyse ethical dilemmas faced by the travel and tourism sector ..................................... 15
1.10 Analyse the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy of a specified travel and tourism
business ..................................................................................................................................... 16
Chapter 2: The role and regulatory powers of the authorized bodies. .......................................... 18
2.1 Role clarity .......................................................................................................................... 18
2.1.1 Principles for role clarity .............................................................................................. 18
2.2 Decision-making and governing body structure for independent regulators ...................... 19
2.3 Accountability and transparency ......................................................................................... 20
2.3.1 Principles for accountability and transparency ............................................................. 20
2.4 Role of Regulatory Bodies in the Banking and Energy Sectors ......................................... 21
2.4.1 Legal and economic central bank independence .......................................................... 21
Chapter 3: The process and organizations involved in determining disputes court systems. ....... 23
3.1 Court structure and organization ......................................................................................... 23
3.1.1 Types of courts ............................................................................................................. 23
3.2 PUBLIC HEALTH TOOLS ................................................................................................ 26
3.3 Courts Must Remain Open During Emergencies ................................................................ 26
Chapter 4: Surface, sea and air transport law in relation of the carriage of passengers within the legal and
regulatory frame work................................................................................................................... 29
4.1 Legislation and Ethics in the Travel and Tourism Sector ................................................... 29
4.2 CONNECTIVITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ...................................................... 30
Chapter 5: Legislation and Ethics in Travel and Tourism Assignment ........................................ 31
5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 31
5.2 Understanding legal & regulatory frameworks in travel & tourism industry ..................... 31
5.2.1 Explaining the legal & regulatory framework of travel & tourism industry ................ 31
5.2.2 Discussing laws governing air, surface & sea transport lying within legal & regulatory
framework .............................................................................................................................. 32
5.3 Understanding prevalent legislations & regulations governing health & safety standards and
security parameters in travel & tourism industry ...................................................................... 32
5.3.1 Evaluating the implications of health & safety and security legislations of travel & tourism
industry .................................................................................................................................. 33
5.3.2 Analyzing legislations with respect to equality ............................................................ 34
5.4 Understanding the legislations of consumer protection prevalent in travel & tourism industry
................................................................................................................................................... 34
5.4.1 Explain contract legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers ..................... 35
5.4.2 Explaining consumer protection legislations for customers of travel and tourism sector36
5.5 Understanding business ethics role prevalent in travel & tourism industry ........................ 37
5.5.1 Identification and analysis of ethical dilemmas of a large Corporation ....................... 37
5.5.2 Analysis of CSR activities of the Corporation ............................................................. 38
Chapter 6: LAW FOR TOURISM ................................................................................................ 40
6.1 GENERAL ......................................................................................................................... 40
6.2 BODIES OF MANAGEMENT ......................................................................................... 42
6.3 FINANCIAL PROMOTION OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM ........................ 48
6.4 CONDITIONS AND ORDER OF CARRYING OUT TOURIST ACTIVITIES .............. 50
6.5 CONTROL ......................................................................................................................... 71
6. 6 ADMINISTRATIVE PENAL PROVISIONS .................................................................. 73
REFERENCE ................................................................................................................................ 81
Chapter 1: The legal and regulatory framework of the travel and tourism industry
1.1 law and tourism
Law is defined as "a set of value-based norms with which the state authority regulates those
(predominantly) external behaviours and actions of entities which are so conflicting in nature and so
important to the social community and its fundamental values that they must be
regulated in a legal way, and their disrespect sanctioned "(Korže, 2014: p. 19). We talk about law only
when the set of legal rules as a whole is effective and largely implemented in social practice (Bohinc et
al., 2006). In addition to the force of the state, the effectiveness of law is conditioned by its rationality,
the actual need for regulation, the conviction of legal regulations, and their usefulness. When judging the
effectiveness of the law, the sense and purpose of it have to be considered; furthermore, the relation to
the social values, the issues of justice, the coherence between morality and the customs of a society
cannot be ignored (Korže, 2014).
The legal system consists of all regulations in particular state at certain period of time (Jerman and
Vidic, 2012). Regualtions, e. g. the Constitution, laws, by-laws etc., are adopted by the state bodies: the
parliament, the government and the ministries (Bohinc et al., 2006). By including Slovenia in the EU,
the general rules adopted by the European
Parliament and the Council have become an integral part of the legal system of the state, as well.
Constant changes in modern societies create new social relationships.
Some of them become so important that they need to be regulated by law, particularly if they relate
public and private sphere. As promoting the development of tourism is in public interest (ZSRT,
2004 and on), tourism is regulated by the state as well.
Tourism is the fastest growing economic sector in the world. With a 4 % yearly growth for the last seven
years it has overcome the yearly rise of world's GDP in the same period. It represents 10 % of world’s
GDP, 30 % of the service exports, provides one of ten jobs and has several positive economic
and non-economic effects on development in particular countries and society as a whole (UNWTO,
2017). Tourism is not a privilege of the few any more, but a »basic need of modern society«
(Yeoman, 2008: p. 19).
Hall and Lew (2009: p. 5) state that »tourism is more easily imagined than defined«. Authors
believe that the complexity of the phenomenon is frequently blurred with the mentality of the majority
of people, who link tourism only with travel in spare time and vacations. However, tourism can be
explained from a number of scientific and technical points of view
depending on the research context, purpose and application. Until 1980, researchers of tourism focused
only on its economic dimensions. Later, other scientific fields contributed their share in the study
of tourism: sociology, ethnology, anthropology, geography, psychology, history and philosophy
(Weber, 2009). Thus, it is difficult to put down a definition of tourism, which would satisfy the
expectations of all researchers (Burns, 1999).
1.1.1 What is Tourism Law?
In a nutshell, tourism law refers to either general government regulations or specific travel and
hospitality industry laws. What follows is an overview of the laws governing tourism and an explanation
of why they are so important to travel consumers.
1.1.2 Do We Need Tourism Laws?
According to the United Nations’ World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the purpose of travel
legislation is to provide a regulatory framework for the proper development and management of tourism
activities. Ideally, this will aid in the conservation of natural resources and the preservation of cultural
traditions. As an added benefit, travel consumers and organizations receive basic legal protection.
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However, creating and enforcing tourism laws is notably lax around the world. Certain developing
countries have not only a weak travel infrastructure, but offer zero resources or protection to non-local
visitors. Understandably, popular countries also struggle to monitor and enforce laws to protect tourists
because of the sheer number of visitors and unscrupulous business people who target tourists.
1.1.3 Major Tourism Laws
Tourism laws refer to a combination of state, federal and international laws that regulate various aspects
and functions of the travel industry. For instance, travel law may involve anything from hospitality to
employment to public health regulations.
In America, there are a few prominent legal regulations, such as seller of travel laws. There are at least
five states that maintain seller of travel laws. These states are Iowa, Hawaii, Florida, Nevada, California
and Washington. To explain, a seller of travel law means that the state requires anyone who provides
travel related services to register with the government. They will be required to display their registration
number on their advertising. Consequently, travel consumers in these states are guaranteed a minimum
level of recourse if they are the victims of fraud or exploitation. Even though almost all other states do
not have official travel regulation agencies, most states have some sort of lax financial security
registrations, such as posting bonds with the government.
1.1.4 Bill of Rights
National airline travel has become more scrutinized because of security concerns and airline companies
are streamlining operations and cutting back services. Traveling by air can be a frustrating and time
consuming process. However, there are basic airline passenger bill of rights laws that regulate how
passengers are treated by airline companies. The most common legislation type is a statute that sets
standards for unique travel situations, such as when passengers are stuck in a delayed plane or waiting in
an airport for a delayed flight. Some states do not require, but ask that travel agents inform their clients
of certain restrictions or public health problems. Many states expect that travel agents will share State
Department travel warnings with their clients. Other states have enacted local laws and opened free
tourist centers to increase incoming tourism.
1.1.5 Tourism Law Problems
There are many common travel related problems that are covered by state regulations. For starters, lost
or damaged baggage is a chronic travel issue. This becomes a heated problem when the lost item is
something expensive such as artwork or a family heirloom. Thus, every airline will have their own
regulations, which of course tends to limit their legal and financial liabilities. Every state has their own
laws regarding required consumer disclosure notices. This could involve potential risks and limitations
of liability.
The laws governing tourism tend to be disorganized and non-standardized. However, every Tourism
Law attempts to protect travel consumers and organizations.
1.2 legal and regulatory framework of the travel and tourism sector
Tourism Law in general lays out the framework that governs the travel agencies, travel organizations,
airports. It has evolved from environmental protection, health and safety, employee rights, planning,
consumer protection, company law or contract law. Formulated to assure and facilitate a smooth
functioning of the tourist activities in the country it enhances the quality of the people working for the
industry by encouraging Corporate Social Responsibility. An in depth study of the spheres of ethical
dilemmas faced by the tourism industry of the country would help in avoiding the common mistakes and
enhancing the quality of tourism services. The present assignment requires to study the various factors
mentioned that influence and contribute to the development of the tourism industry.
1.3– Explain the legal and regulatory framework of the travel and tourism sector
The legislation and the tourism industry are connected in more ways than one can think. Tourism
industry involves, sellers, suppliers, business organizations, consumers, contracts, hospitality so on and
so forth. The legislation comes into play when the mentioned factors interact with each other. Such a
scenario could be that of a restaurant, whereby the restaurant is supplied food that in turn is prepared and
offered to the customers to provide the services of food. The cycle involves variety of factors such as
hospitality, consumer behaviour, quality standards that are governed by various legislations.
The legal framework is the system of rules governing the decision-making whereas the regulatory
framework suggests a system to enforce the codified legislations. Over the years the country has
observed a steady growth in the tourism industry for which the specific sphere of law was to be installed
due to its peculiar characteristics.
The tourism legislation involves the following:
Development of Tourism Act, 1969: Introduced by the British Tourist Authority, it focuses on
co-ordination the organizations involved in the tourism industry. The British Tourist Authority
has been clubbed with the English Tourism Council to form Visit Britain
Transports Acts 1980 and 1985: The act of 1980 terminated the licensing laws that affected the
express coach routes and tours of over 30 miles. The said termination further more increased the
competition between the national bus and the private bus companies. Also, the act of 1985 de-
regularised the route system, allowing the private buses to operate all the routes.
Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992: This legislation aims at
establishing it the tour operators’ responsibility to the customers and the remedies available to
the customers. Every tour operator present in the UK would have to abide by the suggested
regulation.
The primary objectives of installing the tourism legislations were:
Standard procedures
Develop tourism in a regulated manner
Establish the right and obligations of the people and organizations involved.
Regulations that affect the tourism laws of the countries are namely,
Health and Safety Commission: It requires updating the laws and regulations regarding the
safety.
International Air Transport Association: Situated in Montreal, facilitate establishing the policies
and standards for the tourism sector of the country.
Strategic Rail Authority: This enactment divided the railway sector into two namely Rail Track
and Rolling Stock Companies.
Civil Aviation Authority: It requires updating the laws and regulations regarding the airspace
usage and aviation safety.
1.4 – Discuss surface, sea and air transport law in relation to the carriage of passengers within the
legal and regulatory framework
The Athens Convention defines ‘carrier’ as a person who is involved in a contract of carriage with a
carrier. A ‘passenger’ means the person being carried by the ship. Also, ‘luggage’ means an article or
vehicle being carried by the carrier. A loss or damage may result in a pecuniary loss. According to the
Article 3 of the said convention following would be regarded as the liability of the carrier:
1. Liability to pay for the loss if the loss occurs during the course of carriage and resulted because
of the neglect of the carrier
2. The person suffering the loss shall establish the carrier’s liability
Surface Law: The International Carriage of Passenger by Road Act, 1979 governs the said
Surface Law of the country. It formulates and protects the passengers that are on board on
carrier’s permission. The remedies to the claim under the present legislation may include,
physical/mental disorders or damage on the passengers travelling on the carrier. Also, loss of
luggage, governed by the Carriage by Railway Act, 1972. [Medlik, (2007)] The Railway
privatization focused on contributing towards the development and integrating the transport of
goods and passengers. Also, to safeguard the interest of the disabled persons aboard.
Sea Law: The International Maritime Organization formulated by the United Nations ensures and
safeguards the safety and security of shipping. Also, it regulates the environmental factors
involved while functioning of the ships. The International Convention for the Safety of life at
Sea (SOLAS) regulates the functioning of fire protection measures, fire fighting skills of
crewmembers and lifesaving equipment to a sea craft with at least 12 passengers. The Athens
Convention, 1974 governs the damages suffered by the passengers while on a ship or a ferry.
Also, lays down the extent of liability towards the affected passenger. The protocol of 2002
makes it mandatory to insure the passengers travelling by ships for the certain time. It also
enhances the limits of liability.
Air Law: The air transport law involves various legislations. The Warsaw Convention of 1929
defines the international carriage and lays down rules regarding the documents of carriage. Also,
the passenger’s right to claim the compensation for death or personal injury. It requires the
carriages to perform a luggage check at the beginning of the journey. The Montreal Conference
of 1999 replaced the Warsaw System presenting a single legal instrument, instead of a patchwork
provided as earlier. [ R. Collins, (2008)] The Five Freedoms Agreement of 1944 involves
regulations regarding flying across its territory without landing, landing for non-traffic purpose,
Putting down the passengers, mail or cargo, taken on, destined for the territory. The Denied
Boarding Compensation Schemes (EU) 1997 on the other hand aims at raising the protection
standards for air passengers and ensuring harmonized operation of the carriers.
1.5– Evaluate the impacts of the principles of health, safety and security legislation on the travel
and tourism sector
The primary intention of the legislators is to regulate the development of tourism by introducing unified
criteria of practices of tourism by determining the rights and obligations of the persons involved in the
tourism industry. Health, safety and security legislation governs the possible hazards. It sets out the
responsibility of the employers and employees to check if any hazards are reported and to minimise the
risk of accidents. Employers and employees play an active role in the maintaining the safety of the
organization. The primary motive of health and safety regulations is to make sure that the working
environment is safe and free of harm. It is the employer’s duty provide for the safety of employees from
any personal injury. Under the tourism sector, the country aims to provide the safe accommodation and
such other services by setting out the duties and liabilities of the travel providers and the destination
authorities.
The Health and Safety at Work (HSWA 1974) sets out the regulations and its directives making it
mandatory for the employers to perform their duties towards the employees and the members of the
public.
Also, the Health and Safety Commission keeps the law under review and initiates research as and when
required. When a situation arises where the law is not functioning well it has the following three options:
Guidance: The HSC may seek guidance to make the people aware of the legislations and to help
them comply as well. Secondly, to provide the technical guidance with respect to the provisions
of the legislations.
Approved Codes of Practice: These codes lay down the structure to practically comply with the
law. They have a categorical legal standing, as they are a part of the legislations. The ACOP sets
out the codes for hazardous materials and working practices when broken may lead to
employer’s liability on the grounds of breach of health and safety law. A failure to follow ACOP
is not an offence but a defence is required under any of the said activities governed under ACOP.
Certain regulations may be imposed by the HSE on approval of the Parliament as they are made
to comply with the EC Directives.
Following are the employer’s duties under the ACOP:
1. Heating and lighting
2. First-aid Provision
3. Accident prone work environment
Likewise, following are the employee’s duties under the ACOP:
1. Prevent accidents
2. Report potential or actual hazards
3. Attend training sessions
Regulations: It is the employer’s responsibility to safeguard the health and safety interests of the
employees. Under the Health and Safety Legislation, if an organization employs 5 or more staff a
written code for health and safety must issued. Also, it has been observed that most of the
organizations conduct workshops and training sessions as required by their specific business.
The said training may be of following kinds:
1. Induction: New employees are given the information
2. On going: Existing employees are given training for the use of new skills on equipment.
3. Notices: issuing drill procedures and caution signs
4. Demonstrations: fire drills, evacuation drills
5. Handbook: publishing to the staff
6. Advice: regular advice sessions by the health and safety officers
7. Representative: developing a role of health and safety representative
1.6 Analyse legislation that relates to equality
Equality states that everyone shall be treated equally. The tourism industry legislations instruct the
tourism providers to treat everyone making access to their goods, services irrespective of their age,
gender, race or disability. If a set of services were provided differently to different people then such a
behaviour would amount to discrimination. Discrimination may be an act of refusal of a service or
providing lower grade of service or offering service on worse terms.
The Equality Act of 2010 regulates the equal treatment of the citizens and employees by simplifying law
while eliminating inconsistencies. It is a combination of acts such as Equal Pay Act, 1970; Sex
Discrimination Act, 1975; Race Relations Act, 1976; Disability Discrimination Act, 1995; Employment
Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations, 2003; Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation)
Regulations, 2003; Employment Equality (Age) Regulations, 2006; Equality Act, 2006; Equality Act
(Sexual Orientation) Regulations, 2007.
The Sex Discrimination Act, 1975, protected the interests of men and women from discrimination on the
grounds of sex or marriage concerned with employment, training, education, and harassment. The Race
Discrimination Act, 1976 was established to prevent discrimination on the grounds of race, colour,
nationality, ethnicity, and national origin. The Disability Discrimination Act, 2005 made it unlawful for
the operators to discriminate on the basis of a disability.
The different kinds of discrimination recognized under the aforementioned legislations are as follows:
1. Direct: When another person according to the standards of the law treats a person unequally.
2. Indirect: When a group of persons is mistreated or kept from providing a certain facility
3. Perceptive: Initiated from perceptions of the applicator of standards whereby the person is
discriminated for having or not having of a distinct character.
4. Harassment: When the person is a victim of an unwanted behaviour on explicit denial. It may be
ac client or a supplier or a contractor, which is regarded as third party harassment.
5. Disability: When a person is discriminated for possessing a dysfunctional body that can’t be
fixed by regular treatments or lack of means, it is regarded as discrimination on the basis of a
disability.
To serve the discriminated people on the basis of employment an Employment Tribunal has been set up
to claim remedies such as compensation, retention, on the basis of discrimination from disability or
harassment. If a person faces a discrimination during the usual course of his tour that would make him
the affected party to which he would have the above mentioned remedies.
1.7- Explain contract legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers
A contract may be defined as a legal relationship between two or more parties for the goods or services
in exchange of consideration that is enforceable by law. Every travel company has a binding contract
with the consumer setting out the details of payment and services. Every travel contract has a certain
terms and conditions attached to it, such as place of destination, arrival, departure, duration and cost of
stay. On failure to communicate the set out conditions the consumer may withdraw the contract at any
time. Following are the standard elements relevant to any contract:
Offer: It is a statement to inform that said offer is ready to be accepted by the offeree. It is made
by the offeror to the offeree. It shall have the presence of two parties and a condition to accept
the offer. For example, staying at a hotel.
Acceptance: Whereby the offeree is ready to accept the offer been made. In a holiday contract it
would amount to purchasing the product after a detailed discussion with the travel agent.
Consideration: for a contract to be valid a certain amount of consideration is required to
complete the acceptance. Without a consideration any contract would just be an agreement not
binding by law. Under a holiday contract the charges of the holiday by the travel agent would be
regarded as the consideration.
Capacity: It refers to the capability to enter into a legal contract. The legislation defines capacity
as to possess majority of age, soundness of min, intent free of any duress. Under a holiday
contract it is an important aspect, as it requires the consumer to declare he is at least 18 years of
age.
Certainty: The rules and terms of the contract shall be clear and common to both the parties
unless the contract would not be valid. Such as, miscommunication regarding the staying
preferences at a hotel.
Contracts of supply of goods means that the consumers may expect a reasonable state of goods or
services provided with care and skill. When a contract is made for accommodation, the hotel room shall
be of decent condition abiding by the cleanliness standards of the health and safety laws. A holiday
contract has such conditions as follows:
Agreement between the customer and the agent
Details of the holiday under the brochure, advertisement or website photos.
Personal Preferences of the customer
Consumer regulations
Terms common between the two parties such as,
1. Name/place of stay for the duration of holiday
2. Destination
3. Express and implied terms
4. Amount of consideration
5. Other factors relevant to the destination
1.8- Explain consumer protection legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers
The consumer protection legislation aims to protect the rights and interests of the consumers from being
violated at the hands of business organizations and travel agents. The Trade Description Act of 1968
prohibits the false or misleading indicator of prices of goods, services, accommodation and other related
services. [Brotherton, (2008)] It sets out the responsibility of the Trading Standards Officers to check for
the following:
Application of false trade description by the provider
Supply or offer of supply to which false trade description has been implied
Making false statements about the provisions of any services, facilities or accommodation.
The Consumer Protection Act of 1987 lays down the rights of the consumers and the duty of the
providing party. Such as manufacturer has a legal responsibility to mention the relevant information
with respect to the product as mentioned by the health and safety laws of the country. It makes provision
for the issues like, fraud, unfair business practices and product liability. The regulation helps in:
Abolishing the supply sub standards goods
Establishing product liability
Establishing legal authorities
Prohibiting unlawful price indications
The above-mentioned legislations have been clubbed into one legislation called the Consumer Protection
from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPR). The consumer protection under the Travel and Tourism
industry is in the following contexts:
Authenticity of prices and service charges
Surcharge applicable to the payment made via cards
Prices of rooms made available
Included services at the time of renting the room
Price disclosure at the bars.
Charges for the minibar
Other material information such as route preferences, swimming pools, gyms and such other
things.
The Package Travel Regulations of 1992 assure the miscommunication shall be corrected at the end of
the service provider on making the necessary arrangements. It explicitly provides the minimum
requirement for a contract to be a holiday contract. In order to be valid it must include two or more
facilities such as accommodation, transport or other tourist services.
Also, the organizer for the air travel requires the Aviation Travel Organizer’s License whereby the
consumers are financially protected either by way of insurance, bonding or trade account. It has been
modified to include disclosure of authentic information, extend the applicability of flight-plus holidays
feature and to provide a set of standardized by-laws.
1.9 Analyse ethical dilemmas faced by the travel and tourism sector
The travel and tourism sector is a complex one to study as there are many elements still developing and
unregulated. Sectors like hospitality, management, logistics and employment are dependent on various
factors independent of each other yet are inseparable. One such major sub-sector of functioning is
hospitality that related to the relationship building and catering to the needs of the current and
prospective customers at the best price. Different studies have highlighted the cross-cultural dilemmas.
[Pizam, (2005)] Also, political climate as to instability of the government or dysfunctional government
could harbour a country’s tourist activities. Such an example could be Russia or Syria. Such places are
always under riots or political warfare that doesn’t paint a good picture to attract tourists.
Social factors and cultural factors are entwined based on institutions, society, and host communities that
can be tangible and intangible depending on the destinations. The tourists are divided primarily on the
basis of age and economy. Such as it is, some economically challenged countries in means to attract the
tourism offer easy last minute visas for a hassle free documentation and a merry visit. Such countries
are, Vietnam, Nepal, Bangladesh and the likes. [Timothy, (2011)] On the other hand some countries like
USA and UK are bound by strict tourism regulations that involves loads of documentation and paper
work required be completing and submitting in advance of the visit. It is a lengthy process for the
allotment of visas and hence, costly to a great extent.
Research indicates that the main areas of dilemmas that directly affect the tourism industry are that of
bribery, corruption, gender and racial discrimination, sexual harassment, harming natural resources and
selling unhealthy food. Corruption is the misuse of authority to for a personal motive. It is a criminal
activity and forbidden under the law. It includes, bribery, extortion, appropriating goods, embezzlement
and such other financial misconduct.
Several Countries promote a legislation governing the women’s right to work, providing equal
opportunity. A recent study for the European Union states that the European women have been found to
be discriminating in a workplace after the enactment of the Equal Treatment of Men and Women Act
(ETA).
Another unfortunate finding is the employment of child labour as helpers, cleaners, sales representatives
and the likes in the developing countries. The unemployment conditions and increasing level of poverty
the children are forced to earn before they can recognize the law.
Child trafficking, molestation and pornography are a common aspect that has been recognized as illegal
by the UN.
1.10 Analyse the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy of a specified travel and tourism
business
Corporate Social Responsibility refers to the social strategies adopted by the business organizations to
payback their share in the community. It refers to activities such as Environmental protection, equal
opportunity, and practicing sustainable development. [Crane et. Al., (2010)] For a tourism industry to
conduct its corporate social responsibilities that may tie up with the local communities in order to find
out their needs and the business’ responsibility towards them. Corporate Social Responsibility aims at a
carful use of social, cultural and environmental sources to avoid wastage, and conserve the bio diversity
and cultural heritage. It is important for a tourism business to timely practice their corporate social
responsibility as the landscapes, social and cultural values are an inherent feature of tourism.
Corporate Social Responsibility could be categorized under the following major heads:
Environment: The primary motive for such a function is to preserve the environment in order to
promote the natural views that a city harbours in order to encourage tourism.
Philanthropy: Charity is one of the preferences of the businesses towards fulfilling their
corporate social responsibility. It helps them promote their brand while raising charity so it adds
to their publicity, therefore, making it the safest option.
As required, I choose to analyse the corporate social responsibility activities of Thomas Cook. It has
believed in the wholesome development of the tourism industry safeguarding the community. The
company recognizes as one of the key elements and desires to promote Corporate Social Responsibility
every year.
The companies Corporate Social Responsibilities include:
Protecting endangered wildlife
Promoting social and cultural values
Giving fair economical rates to its customers
The company observed an increase of 80% of Local Label sustainable excursions in the year of 2014.
The company also launched a One Millions Heats Programme to promote the relationship between the
employees and the customers. It has become a leaner and innovative business by reducing wastage
making it more efficient by 35%.
The company had set a certain targets in 2010, under a 10-year plan to which following steps have been
taken:
Employee engagement
Using consumer campaigns like, Travel Foundation’s Make Holidays Greener
Promoting charity and raising funds
Thomas Cook has been the first one to create the concept of a package holiday in order to promote
social responsibility and they claim to be as inspiring today as well. Thomas cook has developed a
separate code of conduct to promote the said activities in order to contribute towards the community.
[European Cities Marketing, 2015]
Chapter 2: The role and regulatory powers of the authorized bodies.
A regulatory agency (also regulatory authority, regulatory body or regulator) is a public authority or
government agency responsible for exercising autonomous authority over some area of human activity
in a regulatory or supervisory capacity. An independent regulatory agency is a regulatory agency that is
independent from other branches or arms of the government.
Regulation is a key tool for achieving the social, economic and environmental policy objectives of
governments. Governments have a broad range of regulatory schemes reflecting the complex and
diverse needs of their citizens, communities and economy.
1. However, as Professor Malcolm Sparrow (2000) argues:
“Regulators, under unprecedented pressure, face a range of demands, often contradictory in nature: be
less intrusive – but be more effective; be kinder and gentler – but don’t let the bastards get away with
anything; focus your efforts – but be consistent; process things quicker – and be more careful next time;
deal with important issues – but do not stray outside your statutory authority; be more responsive to the
regulated community – but do not get captured by industry” (p 17).
2. Addressing these challenges to achieve better regulatory outcomes requires more than just good
governance. It is vital that the full range of necessary and mutually reinforcing elements are in place, as
depicted below.
2.1 Role clarity
Role clarity is essential for a regulator to understand and fulfil its role effectively. This requires the
regulator’s objectives, functions and scope to be clear, a mandate that is not conflicting (or provides for
resolution of conflict), the nature of the policy role to be defined, and the power to cooperate
transparently with other bodies.
2.1.1 Principles for role clarity
Objectives
The legislation establishing a regulatory scheme should be written so that the purpose of the regulator
and the objectives of the regulatory scheme are clear to the regulator’s staff, regulated entities and
citizens.
Functions
1. The regulatory and other functions to be carried out to achieve the regulator’s objectives should be
clearly specified in the establishing legislation.
2. Regulators should not be assigned conflicting or competing functions or goals. The assignment of
potentially conflicting functions to any regulator should only occur if there is a clear public benefit
in combining these functions and the risks of conflict can be managed.
3. Where a regulator is given potentially conflicting or competing functions, there should be a
mandatory mechanism whereby conflicts arising are made transparent and processes for resolving
such conflicts are specified. There should also be legal ground for cooperation and protocols
between relevant regulators.
4. Where a regulator is assigned competing functions, the legislation should provide a framework to
guide the regulator in making trade-offs between the functions, or require the regulator to develop
such a framework with the necessary bodies (e.g. legislature, executive, judiciary).
The responsibility for setting or advising on government policy, particularly relating to the nature and
scope of the regulator’s powers and functions, should not principally sit only with the regulator even
though the regulator has the most up to date knowledge of the issues in the regulated sector. The
principal responsibility for assisting the executive to develop government policy should sit with the
responsible executive agency and the regulator should have a formal advisory role in this task. In all
cases such policy should be advanced in close dialogue with affected regulatory and other agencies, and
there should be specified mechanisms for regulators to contribute to the policy making process.
2.2 Decision-making and governing body structure for independent regulators
If consideration of a regulatory function leads to a decision to establish an independent entity then the
decision-making and governing body structure for that entity must subsequently be determined. In
particular, there is the issue of whether a single person should be appointed as the regulator or whether a
number of people acting as a board or commission should jointly perform this role. Where decisions
should be taken collectively a particular sub-committee or sub-group may be most appropriate to make
the decision based on expertise. In the case of economic regulators, a board or commission is preferable.
Issues relating to the decision about institutional arrangements include:
ensuring clarity about the relationship between the accountable political authority, the governing
body and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). This is important to maintaining the integrity of the
structure that has been put in place;
determining the membership of the governing body, including the role of stakeholders and
selection processes. This affects the extent to which the regulator is, and is seen to be, objective
and removed from any undue influence from regulated entities or political will; and
participation of relevant stakeholders in the decision-making process should be facilitated and
assisted through open and transparent procedures.
2.3 Accountability and transparency
The regulator exists to achieve objectives deemed by government and the legislature to be in the public
interest and operates using the powers conferred by the legislature. A regulator is therefore accountable
to the legislature, whether directly or through its Minister. It should regularly report publicly on the
fulfilment of its objectives and demonstrate that it is efficiently and effectively discharging its
responsibilities with integrity and objectivity. Accountability and transparency the other side of the coin
of independence and a balance is required between the two. Comprehensive accountability and
transparency measures actively support good behaviour and performance by the regulator, as they allow
the regulator’s performance to be assessed by the legislature or responsible other authority.
2.3.1 Principles for accountability and transparency
Accountability and performance
The expectations for each regulator should be clearly outlined by the appropriate oversight body. These
expectations should be published within the relevant agency’s corporate plan.
Regulators are accountable to the legislature directly or through their Ministers and should report
publicly and regularly on the fulfillment of their objectives and the discharge of their functions,
including through a comprehensive set of meaningful performance indicators.
Transparency
Key operational policies and other guidance material, covering matters such as compliance, enforcement
and decision review, should be publicly available.
2.4 Role of Regulatory Bodies in the Banking and Energy Sectors
The point discusses the status and role of regulatory bodies and the aftermaths of their independence and
accountability to the public and the parliament. The author analyses different legal statuses of regulatory
bodies in Montenegro and Serbia in the central banking and energy sectors and concludes that it is
necessary that national constitutions, as the highest legal acts in each state, pre-scribe in a separate
article that “Regulatory bodies are independent and accountable to Parliament”. Relevant separate legal
acts should closely define the procedures for establishing, enforcing, and sanctioning of possible
breaching of: 1) independence of regulatory bodies, 2) accountability of regulatory bodies to the
parliament, and 3) transparency of their activities.
2.4.1 Legal and economic central bank independence
Central bank independence includes three aspects: 1. personal – appointing the Governor and managing
bodies, and the establishment of decision-making procedures.
-financial – separation of central bank’s monetary policy from the government`s fiscal policy;
-political – independence in defining objectives and pursuing required policy (Jakšić & Praščević, 2006;
Fabris, 2006).
Central bank independence has to rest on the following elements:
1. Prohibition of lending to public authorities Price stability means liberating monetary policy from
traditional central bank obligation to finance fiscal deficit through lending, so the breaking of the link
between central bank and government is the fundamental prerequisite.
2. Central bank`s independence from government guidelines There is no independence if a central bank
receives and implements imperative government guidelines. This means that the central bank
governor/management have at their disposal an unlimited mandate in terms of independent deciding on
the objectives, instruments, and pursuing of monetary policy.
3. Sovereignty in foreign exchange policy Exchange rate is an additional safeguard anchor of a sound
monetary policy which means that maintaining the value of domestic currency is coupled with the
adjustable exchange rate; If the central bank would have to defend at any cost the fixed rate originating
from projected or realised fiscal proportions and fiscal policy, this would compromise its independence,
4. Central bank’s personal independence This is one of the principal conditions of independence because
regard-less of written legal provisions in legislative acts, the government lobbies that the central bank
governor/management are individuals who politically and professionally support its policy and who are
ready to maxi-mally pursue it in given restricting conditions (e.g. monetary stability). (Cukierman,
Miller & Neyapti, 2002; Eijffinger, 1997).
Positive effects of increased transparency include:
Decreased uncertainty in financial markets,
Decreased exchange rate variability,
Decreased inflation rate,
Decreased inflation rate variability,
Decreased unemployment rate variability,
Disabling government’s political influence on the central bank’s policy (Chortareas, Stasavage &
Sterne, 2002).
Adverse effects of increased transparency imply decreasing the possibility of acting on economic
activity stabilisation using monetary policy. It is impossible to cause inflationary surprise in order to
stabilise the economy.
The reasons for high legal independence of central banks imposed by central bank laws in most
transition countries are as follows:
Most of these economies have faced high inflation, often even hyperinflation episodes,
A lack of adequate market and institutional infrastructure that would pro-vide appropriate
framework to macroeconomic stabilisation,
A lack of legal framework to carry out the transition,
A lack of social consensus on the most important economic policy objectives and the sharing of
expenses imposed by the transition among social groups,
Un underveloped and unsound political system of parliamentary democ-racy, often burdened
with political polarisation,
An effort to eliminate political misuse of monetary policy,
Aspiration to meet the EU accession requirements.
3. Central bank accountability
The accountability of IRAs is defined as follows: “bearers of economic policy may and will be
responsible for the realisation of set objectives of economic policy which are under their responsibility”
(Eijffinger, 2003, p. 115 and etc.). The IRA will be responsible to the extent the indicators of set
economic performances are close to the set objectives. In democratic societies, the parliament represents
the will of the citizens and thus it is crucial that the central bank is directly account-able to the
parliament and the government. If the central bank is accountable to the government, then the
government’s accountability to the parliament is of key importance. There are three important
characteristics of central bank account-ability:
deciding on the explicit definition and ranking of objectives of monetary policy;
transparency of actual monetary policy;
Chapter 3: The process and organizations involved in determining disputes court systems.
3.1 Court structure and organization
3.1.1 Types of courts
There are many different types of courts and many ways to classify and describe them. Basic
distinctions must be made between criminal and civil courts, between courts of general jurisdiction and
those of limited jurisdiction, and between appellate and trial courts. There are also constitutional,
federal, and transnational courts.
Criminal courts
Criminal courts deal with persons accused of committing a crime, deciding whether they are guilty and,
if so, determining the consequences they shall suffer. The prosecution of alleged offenders is generally
pursued in the name of the public (e.g., The People v. …), because crimes are considered offenses not
just against individual victims but also against society at large. The public is represented by an official
such as a district attorney (often called a prosecutor), procurator, or police officer. Although courts are
also agencies of the state, they are neutral in criminal proceedings, favouring neither the prosecution nor
the defense. The impartiality of the court is strongly reinforced where juries are used to decide the guilt
or innocence of the defendant.
The role of the criminal court in civil-law systems is quite different from its role in common-law ones.
Civil-law countries assign a more active role to the judge and a more passive role to counsel. Instead of
being passive recipients of evidence produced by the prosecution and the defense, judges in civil-law
systems often direct the presentation of evidence and even order that certain evidence be produced.
Thus, procedure in civil-law systems is considered inquisitorial. Judges in this system have an
independent responsibility to discover the facts. In the common-law courts, adversary procedures tend to
prevail; the lawyers for both sides bear primary responsibility for producing evidence and do most of the
questioning of witnesses. Advocates of the adversarial system hold that a just outcome is most likely to
result when all possible relevant information—good (tending to exonerate) and bad (tending to
incriminate)—is placed before an impartial adjudicator (the judge or the jury). Self-interest motivates
both the defense and the prosecution to provide all possible evidence relevant to its side of the case.
Where the jury system is used, the jury is supposed to constitute an unbiased sample of ordinary people
predisposed to favouring neither the defense nor the prosecution, and the judge serves as a “legal
referee” who ensures that proper legal procedures are followed (e.g., barring the introduction of illegally
obtained evidence, such as coerced confessions, or other information deemed inadmissible). The
adversarial system, and its associated conception of justice, is a pillar of the common-law tradition, as
evidenced in the U.S., British, and Canadian systems of criminal justice.
Civil courts
Civil courts (not to be confused with the civil-law legal system) deal with “private” controversies,
particularly disputes that arise between individuals or between private businesses or institutions (e.g., a
disagreement over the terms of a contract or over who shall bear responsibility for an automobile
accident). The public is not ordinarily a party to the litigation (as it is in criminal proceedings), for its
interest is limited to providing just and acceptable rules for making decisions and a forum where the
dispute can be impartially and peacefully resolved. These factors are important because the use of the
civil courts is voluntary.
The government may be involved in civil litigation if it stands in the same relation to a private party as
another individual might stand. If a government postal truck hits a pedestrian, for example, the
government might be sued civilly by the injured person; or if the government contracted to purchase
supplies that turned out to be defective, it might sue the dealer for damages in a civil court. In such
proceedings, however, the government acts as a private party.
The objective of a civil action is not explicitly punishment or correction of the defendant or the setting
of an example to others but rather restoration of the parties so far as possible to the positions they would
have occupied had no legal wrong been committed. The most common civil remedy is a judgment for
monetary damages, but there are others, such as an injunction ordering the defendant to do—or to refrain
from doing—a certain act or a judgment restoring property to its rightful owner. For example, a celebrity
might obtain an injunction against an alleged “stalker” requiring that the person not come within a
certain distance of the celebrity at any time.
Civil claims do not ordinarily arise out of criminal acts. A person who breaks his contract with another
or who causes him a physical injury through negligence may have committed no crime (i.e., no offense
against the public has been committed) but only a civil wrong for which he may not be prosecuted
criminally by the public. There are, however, areas of overlap, for a single incident may give rise to both
civil liability and criminal prosecution. In some countries (e.g., France), both types of responsibility can
be determined in a single proceeding under a concept known as adhesion, by which the injured party is
allowed to assert his civil claim in the criminal prosecution, agreeing to abide by its outcome. This
removes the necessity of two separate trials. In common-law countries, there is no such procedure (even
though civil and criminal jurisdiction may be merged in a single court). Two separate actions must be
brought independent of each other. For example, in the United States in the mid-1990s, former football
star O.J. Simpson was tried in a California criminal court on a charge of having murdered his ex-wife
and her friend; although he was acquitted in that litigation (in which a guilty verdict required proof
“beyond a reasonable doubt”), in a subsequent civil suit (in which a guilty verdict required proof by a
“preponderance of the evidence”), he was found liable and was ordered to pay restitution to the families
of the victims. In the United States, such collateral civil lawsuits have become attractive to victims of
alleged crimes, particularly because the standard of proof in civil courts is dramatically lower than it is
in criminal courts.
3.2 PUBLIC HEALTH TOOLS
Interested representatives of the judiciary and public health officials have recently been collaborating on
the development of public health law “bench books.” Bench books are commonly used by judges as
functional practice guides designed to accelerate their understanding of an area of law. Courts in most
states, for example, typically have civil and criminal law bench books. In Indiana, the recently
developed public health law bench book devotes particular attention to legal authorities relating to
public health emergencies. The Indiana bench book was the first bench book in the country devoted to
public health law, and it is serving as a template for the development of bench books in other states. As
states refine their approaches to bench book development, some are devoting a portion to a treatise-like
discussion of public health law, intended for use by public health officials, state and local public health
attorneys, and the public. A “practice supplement” or “application section” is then designed to provide
useful, easily accessible law of practical and immediate use to judges, perhaps with cross-references to
the broader treatment.
Law and public health conferences and seminars are exploring the role of the judiciary in public health,
and federal and state working groups increasingly recognize the judiciary as an important component of
public health readiness. For example, in May 2006, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, part of the US
Department of Justice, convened a meeting of experts representing the judiciary, law enforcement,
corrections, and public health to address efforts for joint preparedness for pandemic influenza. Thus,
public health officials may seek new opportunities to work cooperatively with the judiciary and judicial
education agencies in developing resources like public health law bench books, participating in judicial
education seminars, and planning for public health emergencies.
3.3 Courts Must Remain Open During Emergencies
To perform their important role, courts must of course remain open during a public health emergency.
The potential for public health events to disrupt judicial operations is exemplified by the smallpox
epidemics of 1636 and 1659, which caused relocations of the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay
Colony to sites outside Boston, and another epidemic in 1702 that required the New York Supreme
Court to convene on Long Island. Until recently, these examples may have been thought of as interesting
but irrelevant historical footnotes. But judicial interest in planning for recovery from disasters, already
stimulated by the 200l World Trade Center, Pentagon, and anthrax attacks, was reinforced by the
dramatic adverse impact of recent hurricanes on court operations Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and
Florida. In the immediate aftermath of Hurricanes Charley, Francis, Ivan, and Jeanne in 2004 and
Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma in 2005, courts were forced to suspend operations,
relocate, or temporarily close. Orders were issued to close court operations, suspend deadlines, and, in
some instances, authorize practice by affected lawyers in jurisdictions other than where licensed. Courts
around the country were asked to volunteer supplies, equipment, and other resources. The National
Center for State Courts responded to the Katrina disaster by adding to its Web site a “Clearinghouse for
Courts Affected by Hurricane Katrina,” which updated information on court operations affected by
Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma. Some courts have developed “disaster recovery plans.” Those that have
not are encouraged to do so.
Beyond planning for recovery from devastation caused by hurricanes or other natural disasters, courts
are recognizing the need for an “all hazards” approach to emergency contingency planning for other
potentially catastrophic events, such as an influenza pandemic or a bioterrorism event such as a “dirty
bomb.” Although courts must have plans in place for “picking up the pieces” after a disaster, they also
need to develop and exercise contingency plans to enhance their ability to continue essential operations
during any type of emergency. The continued functioning of the judicial system is critically important to
public health officials: the unavailability of the courts would mean that public health officials and
affected citizens would be deprived of the mechanism for resolving disputes that may be triggered by
public health emergency actions.
During catastrophic infectious disease outbreaks or other public health emergencies, providing timely
due process access to the courts for large numbers of persons may create serious logistical difficulties
for the judicial system. Such difficulties might be compounded by the threat posed by potentially
infectious persons to judges, lawyers, and other court staff. Moreover, courtroom hearings conducted in
the usual “face-to-face” manner would be inadvisable without taking additional precautions; an
alternative would be to use electronic methods of communication, such as 2-way closed circuit
television or telephone conferencing. If, however, even some of these methods proved insufficient, then
courts might determine it necessary to approve curtailment of even some essential proceedings through
the issuance of blanket orders or other measures that in nonemergency situations would be considered
inappropriate.
A leading example of collaborative efforts to address these sorts of issues is the “Florida State Courts
Strategy for Pandemic Influenza: Keeping the Courts Open in a Pandemic.” Although “lessons learned”
from hurricanes have placed Florida at the forefront of judicial emergency planning, Florida courts
nonetheless recognize that an influenza pandemic would have impacts distinct from those experienced
during and after hurricanes. Florida courts, therefore, availed themselves of pandemic influenza
information available at the national level and consulted with Florida Department of Health officials.
The courts concluded that a pandemic scenario would likely increase the number of court filings as a
result of quarantine, isolation, or other public health actions restricting the movement of individuals, that
a significant number of personnel necessary to perform mission-essential functions within the court
system would be unavailable because of illness, and that face-to-face contact would likely be
inadvisable. The plan sets forth short-and long-term objectives for dealing with a pandemic scenario and
prescribes tasks and tools for accomplishing the objectives.
The activities of courts in California, Michigan, and Indiana provide additional examples of judicial
public health emergency preparedness progress. Public health input, similar to that provided to the
Florida Supreme Court for development of its pandemic influenza strategy, has been provided to
California courts in the form of a document titled Epidemics and the California Courts. This document
provides background information concerning epidemic disease transmission, communicable diseases of
concern, public health response to disease outbreaks, and the role of the courts in disease outbreaks.
The Michigan Supreme Court has developed a Business Contingency and Emergency Procedures Plan,
which is designed to provide an emergency judicial assignment process. This plan establishes a
communication link between the State Court Administrative Office and the Michigan Office of Attorney
General, lists statewide primary and back-up contacts for the Office of Attorney General, establishes
primary and secondary contacts for each of 4 judicial regions, and provides contact information for the
judges responsible for covering each region. The plan also prescribes 2 sets of processes and procedures,
depending on the level of emergency: the procedures relating to emergency level 1 (critical) are
designed to ensure immediate access to judicial resources; those relating to emergency level 2 (urgent)
are intended to obtain access to judicial resources as soon as practicable. In Indiana, the Division of
State Court Administration and the Judicial Conference Court Management Committee are in the
process of developing a template to be used by trial courts in developing continuity of operations plans,
with special emphasis on the public health aspect of disaster recovery
Chapter 4: Surface, sea and air transport law in relation of the carriage of passengers within the
legal and regulatory frame work.
The mode of transport used while carrying the tourist from one place to another then the responsibilities
of the carrier is strict in terms of safety and injuries so caused during the transport. The mode of
transport may change based on the mode of transport. For land, sea, and air the mode of transport differ
in nature. The different types of mode of transports are discussed as follows:
The Air and Road Act of 1979, the carrier is require to ensure that the tourists on board during the
journey are safe and secure from any damage. The carrier is liable for the provision of the required
measures involved in maintaining the safety regulations. The safety measures shall ensure that every
passenger is treated equally and avoid any situation of injury or death or loss of luggage. The Athens
Convention in the year of 1974 determined that the international carriage through sea should be
regulated for the ships, vessels and cargos. If during the travel on the sea, it is found that the passengers
safety and the luggage shall be protected from any physical or mental harm causing them loss while
loading or unloading, the vessel owner or the ship service will be responsible for the same. (Saggerson,
2008)
The Air and Road Act requires the carrier on the roadways to identify the rights and claims of the
passengers and provided the same to avoid any physical, mental disorder that might be caused from
loading or unloading of the luggage or boarding or de boarding. The safety is provided during the travel
time only for having boarded the carrier. Accordingly, the Carriage of Passengers by Road Act of 1974
regulates the safety of the passengers as well as the luggage. The legislations and the rules so provided
are present at the Guild of British Coach for having the best coaches. The Domestic Carriage Order of
1987 protects the domestic carriage travel and safety and the Athens Convention Act, 1974, regulates
the international carriage. The rules for safety and security are regulated under the three forms of travel
under the British tourism industry. The losses and damages so covered under the regulations are
responsibility of the carrier undertaking the passengers at the time. (Syratt and Archer, 2003)
4.1 Legislation and Ethics in the Travel and Tourism Sector
Task 1 Understand the legal and regulatory framework in the travel and tourism sector
1.1: Explain the legal and regulatory framework of the travel and tourism sector.
1.2 Discuss surface, sea, and air transport law in relation to the carriage of passengers within the legal
and regulatory framework.
Task 2: Understand legislation and regulations relating to health, safety and security in the travel and
tourism sector
2.1: Evaluate the impacts of the principles of health, safety and security legislation on the travel and
tourism sector
2.2: Analyze legislation that relates to Equality
Task 3: Understand consumer protection legislation in relation to the travel and tourism sector.
3.1: Explain contract legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers
3.2: Explain consumer protection legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers
Task 4: Understand the role of business ethics in the travel and tourism sector
4.1: Ethical dilemmas faced by the travel and tourism sector.
4.2: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy of a specified travel and tourism business
4.2 CONNECTIVITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The continuous opening-up of air transport market through liberalization has an overall positive impact
on the growth of air traffic, tourism and the economy at large. A key element to sustainable economic
development and growth is the improvement of air transport connectivity. Connectivity is based on the
concept that the movement of passengers, mail and cargo involves the minimum of transit points in the
shortest possible time, with optimal user satisfaction at the minimum price possible.
Passenger Connectivity: Utilization Rate
In order to directly quantify and measure progress of policy development and effectiveness in terms of
connectivity, ICAO developed an indicator – the utilization rate of connectivity opportunities by air
carriers – by comparing the number of available markets created by air transport liberalization
(‘available’ connectivity) with the number of those markets having actual air services (‘real’
connectivity).
Chapter 5: Legislation and Ethics in Travel and Tourism Assignment
5.1 Introduction
Legal and regulatory framework of travel and tourism covers so many aspects depending on the
different parties involved in it. It falls under the preview of Tourism Act 1969; Travel Act 1985and
Package Tour Regulations 1992.There is surface law, sea law and air law in relation to the carriage of
passengers within the legal and regulatory framework. There are also impacts of the principles of health,
safety and security legislation on the travel and tourism sector. It falls under the legislation that relates to
equality and the contract legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers. Customers are also
protected under summer protection legislation in relation to safeguarding the interest of the customers.
Travel and tourism businesses cannot only go for profit decision making. These legislation and ethics in
travel and tourism organisations have Corporate Social Responsibilities with the objective to contribute
towards betterment of the society. The present study therefore would help us in understanding the
various aspects of the travel and tourism industry and the organizations operating within that industry. It
will also be beneficial in understanding the rules, regulations and legislations governing the travel and
tourism industry in a better way (Mok, Sparks and Kadampully, 2013).
5.2 Understanding legal & regulatory frameworks in travel & tourism industry
5.2.1 Explaining the legal & regulatory framework of travel & tourism industry
The tourism industry and the legislation are connected to each other in a number of ways. There are so
many parties involved in tourism industry like suppliers, customers, contractors etc. When these parties
interact between one another, the role of legislations becomes significant. If we take the example of a
restaurant that serves food to the customers, that falls under the legal and regulatory framework of
legislations regarding the factors involved in it like hospitality, food quality, and behaviour of the
customers. As travel and tourism industry is a growing industry, it covers following under tourism
legislations:
Tourism Act, 1969:This Act focuses on the tourism organizations and their coordination as
specified by “British Tourist Authority”
Transport Act, 1980 & 1985:This Act controls and regulates national & private bus transport
companies along with their routes.
Package Travel & Tour Regulations, 1992:This regulation controls delivering of
responsibilities of tour operators to their customers.
The objectives of these legislations were mainly to promote standard procedures to regularize the
tourism industry defining rights and obligation of the parties involved in it. Tourism laws are also
affected by “Health and Safety Commission”,” International Air Transport Association”,” Strategic Rail
Authority”,” Civil Aviation Authority”
5.2.2 Discussing laws governing air, surface & sea transport lying within legal & regulatory
framework
Air, surface and sea transport lying within legal & regulatory framework are governed by surface law,
sea law and air law. These laws are discussed below.
Surface Law: This law is governed by “The International Carriage of Passenger by Road Act, 1979”.It
protects the rights of the passengers on board. All the claims related to physical damages or mental
disorders of the passengers are taken care by this law. Loss of luggage of the passengers is also
governed by the “Carriage by Railway Act, 1972” (Medlik, 2007).All this laws regulates transport of
goods and passenger. Interests of disabled passengers are also safeguarded by this law.
Sea Law: Shipping safety and security is covered under this contract law. Environmental factors are
also regulated by this law. Seacraft with at least 12 nos of passengers related to the fire safety and life
guarding equipments are covered under “The International Convention for the Safety of life at Sea
(SOLAS)”.Liability of the ship or ferry towards damages suffered by its and its extent or limit is
governed by “The Athens Convention, 1974”.
Air Law: the rules of international carriage and its documentation are defined by “The Warsaw
Convention of 1929 ” .The passenger’s death compensation and right to claim against personal injury
are also covered under this . “The Five Freedoms Agreement of 1944”covers all the rules and
regulations related to landing across territory for traffic, non-traffic, passenger landing, and cargo and
specify its territory.
5.3 Understanding prevalent legislations & regulations governing health & safety standards and
security parameters in travel & tourism industry
5.3.1 Evaluating the implications of health & safety and security legislations of travel & tourism
industry
Health, safety and security legislation focus mainly on the possible hazards in the travel and tourism
sector and ensure that risk of accident minimised. The primary objective is to maintain safety in all
respect in the working environment. It is primary responsibility of the employer as well as of the
employee to identify in advance if there is any possibility of hazard in the work place and report the
entire hazard as soon as possible.
“The Health and Safety at Work (HSWA 1974)” specified regulations directed the employers in
performing their duties .To ensure proper functioning it has given three options to follow:
Guideline: The Health and Safety Guidance try to find out whether people have knowledge about the
prevalent legislations. They also help facilitate people to properly comply with the legislations. It also
helps in providing technical assistance for the provisions.
Approved Code of Practices (ACOP): It relate to formulation of Approved Code of Practices (ACOP)
regarding hazardous work practices along with hazardous materials. The breach of these codes will
make the employer liable. As per ACOP the duties of the employees involve:
Taking actions to prevent accidents
Reporting immediately about hazards, actual as well as potential
Attending training programs related to effective dealing with hazards
Regulations:It becomes the responsibility of the employer for taking care of proper lighting, first aid &
other statutory requirements in a work environment that is accident prone. The organizations with
employee strength of five should issue written health and safety code as well as follow the following:
New recruits are informed about the regulation through proper induction.
Providing training to existing employees of the organization to acquire the required knowledge
and skills for handling equipments.
Issuance of notices related to drill mechanism as well as for showing caution signs.
Mock drills related to fire fighting and evacuation is practiced at regular interval.
Providing fire and safety related handbooks to the employees
Advise sessions are conducted by respective authorities regularly.
5.3.2 Analyzing legislations with respect to equality
The Equality Act, 2010 put emphasis on treating of citizens and employees equally without making any
discrimination. It also attempts to simplify the law deleting inconsistencies. It is essentially cumulative
of the “Equal Pay Act, 1970; Sex Discrimination Act, 1975; Race Relations Act, 1976; Disability
Discrimination Act, 1995; Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations, 2003; Employment
Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations, 2003; Employment Equality (Age) Regulations, 2006;
Equality Act, 2006; Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations, 2007”.Travel and tourism
legislations ensure that tour operators treat every customers equally by making their goods and services
available to the customers without making any discrimination (Annesley and Gains, 2013).
The Sex Discrimination Act, 1975 on the other hand safeguards people’s interests against any gender or
marriage discrimination related to training & employment and education etc. While discriminations
made on the basis of race, colour and origin etc are prevented by The Race Discrimination Act, 1976.
Various types of discrimination covered by above mentioned legislations include the following:
Direct Discrimination: It takes place when a person treats others unequally as per set law standards.
Indirect Discrimination:It is said to exist when certain people groups are deprived of a particular
service or facility.
Perceptive Discrimination: It is based on standard perceptions for discriminations faced by persons.
Harassment & Disability: Harassment is said to occur when people are subject to unwanted denial
from the part of client, supplier, contractor etc. Disability discriminations are explicitly made on the
basis of any disability or dysfunctional body of an individual depriving such person of a legitimate
goods or services from the part of the tour operators. There are employment tribunals are put in place to
take care of discrimination and harassments related to legitimate employment related claims like
compensation, retention etc. arising due to any disability. Anyone suffering from any discrimination
during touring period can claim remedial measures as deemed suitable.
5.4 Understanding the legislations of consumer protection prevalent in travel & tourism industry
5.4.1 Explain contract legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers
There is a binding contract for each tourism company for customers regarding service and charges
offered by the company. It ascertain all the conditions related to the detailed specifications of tours such
as time of arrival, time of departure, details of destination ,charges for stay, etc. If the company fails as
per the commitment the consumers may withdraw the acceptance and terminate the contract. Every
contract has some standard element. They are as follows:
Offer: There are two parties in the offer. One is offeror and the other is offeree. Offeror makes the offer
to the offeree and the offeree accepts the offer. This is a statement of service that is ready to be accepted.
Acceptance: Hereby the acceptance is confirmed by the offeree. This is when holiday tour package is
purchased by the offeree and become the customer after discussing in detail with the travel agent.
Consideration: A contract become valid and complete only after a certain amount of consideration. It is
just an agreement in the absence of consideration and cannot be challenged as per law. For example, in a
holiday package, charges demanded by the travel agent can be taken as consideration.
Capacity: It is the capability to be a party to a legal contract. One should possess valid age, sound mind,
free intention to be capable as per legislation. For example, consumer should declare that he/she is
18years and above before entering into a valid contract enforceable by law.
Certainty: Both the parties to the contract should be clear about the terms and conditions of the contract
otherwise it shall deem to be invalid such as any miscommunication in respect of accommodation for
staying in a hotel will make the contract invalid. Therefore a holiday contract should consist of the
following:
Agreement between the parties
Package details
Customer’s preference
Regulation of customer
Terms and conditions between the parties
Details regarding place of stay
Duration of stay
Destination
So it is obvious that when a contract is signed between parties regarding accommodation, the conditions
should maintain standards of cleanliness under health and safety laws (Cimmino, 2016).
5.4.2 Explaining consumer protection legislations for customers of travel and tourism sector
Consumer’s rights and interests are protected by the consumer protection legislations that these are not
violated by the travel and tourism agents and business owners.
“The Trade Description Act of 1968 prohibits the false or misleading indicator of prices of goods,
services, accommodation and other related services. [Brotherton, (2008)]” Officers of Trading Standards
need to inspect for the following:
Incorrect description related to trade given by the provider
Offer to provide or supply “any services, facilities or accommodation” based on incorrect trade
description
Incorrect statements about the “ services, facilities or accommodation” by the provider
As per the consumers right and providers duty as laid down under “The Consumer Protection Act of
1987” the legal responsibility of the manufacturer is to provide required information regarding product
as stipulated by the countries health and safety laws. It also restricts the unfair business practices along
with the following:
restricts supply of goods of poor quality
define product liability
regulate legal authorities
illegal price indications restricted
“Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPR)” is another legislation that protects
consumer rights by the following controls:
Authentic charges
applicability of right surcharge
Availability of room prices
Providing services while renting room
Disclosure of price at the bars.
Minibar Charges
Charges of swimming pools, gyms etc.
“The Package Travel Regulations of 1992 assure the miscommunication shall be corrected at the end of
the service provider on making the necessary arrangements. It explicitly provides the minimum
requirement for a contract to be a holiday contract. In order to be valid it must include two or more
facilities such as accommodation, transport or other tourist services”.
Similarly air travel organizers must have Aviation Travel Organizer’s License which protects consumers
financially by insurance, bonding etc.
5.5 Understanding business ethics role prevalent in travel & tourism industry
5.5.1 Identification and analysis of ethical dilemmas of a large Corporation
The complex nature of the industry of the travel & tourism is mainly due to the fact that there are a lot of
factors that are still growing and needs to be regulated. Factors such as hospitality, management etc are
found to be dependent on a number of other factors but still are independent of one another. Hospitality
essentially concerns about creating valued relationship and meeting the varied needs and requirements
of the existing and potential travel and tourism customers. It also involves providing the goods and
services at best possible price. There also have been instances of dilemmas of cross cultural nature.
Political unrest and instable government such as Russia, Syria etc also tend to affect the travel and
tourism sector with respect to a particular tourist location. The negative and unfavourable conditions of
such places certainly hinder growth and development of travel and tourism to a great extent.
Social and cultural elements also tend to affect travel and tourism on the basis of societies, communities
etc of the tourist destinations. The tourism customers are primarily categorized on the basis of their age
as well as the economy. Accordingly countries that are economically weak like Vietnam, Bangladesh etc
tend to facilitate travel and tourism through providing convenient visa without much documentation.
Conversely, stronger economies such as USA, UK etc that are guided by stringent travel and tourism
rules and regulations involve hefty documentation along with lengthy paper work for visa permit.
Recent studies show that dilemmas affecting travel and tourism sector mainly revolve round bribery and
corruption, gender discrimination, sexual harassments, causing harm to natural resources, sale of
unhealthy food etc. Corruption essentially involves bribery, extortion etc.
Most of the countries have legislations to help facilitate the right of women in work place ensuring equal
opportunity in employment. However, the recent enactment of “Equal Treatment of Men and Women
Act” has resulted in certain cases of violation of equal opportunity in employment.
It has also been found that there has been a considerable increase in the numbers of child labours used
for the purpose of employment in most developing countries. Such employment is mainly in the form of
helpers, cleaners, workers etc. Increase in unemployment rate, poverty and lack of social security have
been the reasons behind the growing number of child labour across the globe.
Moreover, child trafficking, pornography etc that are illegal in the eye of law in developing countries are
on a rise.
5.5.2 Analysis of CSR activities of the Corporation
Business organizations adopt some social strategies as a service towards the community. This is what we
generally call Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR. “It refers to activities such as Environmental
protection, equal opportunity, and practicing sustainable development (Crane et. al., 2010)”.Tourism
organizations may contact with the local authorities to know their requirements and thus business
organization can define their responsibility towards the society. Tourism businesses can set their
objectives to conserve heritage, environmental sources and other social valuables towards delivering
their Corporate Social Responsibility. Their primary objective should be to preserve natural sources and
therefore encourage travel and tourism. Along with their business objectives they should also be
engaged in philanthropy for charity purpose. So, the Corporate Social Responsibility may include giving
protection to endangered wildlife, promoting cost effective rates to the travel and tourism consumers
taking care of “social and cultural values”. For fulfilling this responsibility any business would require
engagement of employee and funds for charitable purposes. In the present phase of globalization
organization has to deliver Corporate Social Responsibilities to sustain in the society and contribute for
its betterment. In the context of the present task we can give an example of a large Corporation like
Thomas Cook. “Thomas Cook has been the first one to create the concept of a package holiday in order
to promote social responsibility and they claim to be as inspiring today as well. Thomas cook has
developed a separate code of conduct to promote the said activities in order to contribute towards the
community. The company observed an increase of 80% of Local Label sustainable excursions in the
year of 2014. The company also launched a One Millions Heats Programme to promote the relationship
between the employees and the customers. It has become a leaner and innovative business by reducing
wastage making it more efficient by 35%.The company had set a certain targets in 2010, under a 10-year
plan to which following steps have been taken are employee engagement, using consumer campaigns
like, Travel Foundation’s Make Holidays Greener promoting charity and raising funds [European Cities
Marketing, 2015]”.
Conclusion
In the context of the present study, it can be summed up that important issues relating to health and
safety along with security with respect to a country involves protection of services related to
accommodation as well as other associated services should be made priority for tour operators, tourism
and travel providers. The travel and tourism regulations and legislations are found to treat all equally
without making any discrimination on the basis of gender, age, religion etc. The mechanism of decision
making is found to be impacted by ethical dilemmas applicable for a particular situation. Ethics dealt in
this study can be in the form of business, marketing as well as accounting in nature. Therefore, proper
knowledge of the ethical dilemmas can also affect decision making in the travel and tourism industry to
a considerable amount. Like any other industry, the travel and tourism industry also need to follow the
path of sustainable development for effective growth and success. Corporate Social Responsibility can
be an effective means through which travel and tourism organizations can achieve sustainable
development for its overall wellbeing (Clift and Page, 2015).
Chapter 6: LAW FOR TOURISM
6.1 GENERAL
Art. 1. The law settles the organisation and the management of tourism.
Art. 2. The objective of the law is:
1. to provide conditions for development of tourism as a priority branch;
2. to introduce unified criteria for the practices of tourism;
3. to provide protection of the users of the tourist product;
4. to determine the rights and the obligations of the persons related to tourism;
5. to stipulate the control over the tourist activities.
Art. 3. (1) The law shall regulate tourism as a combination of specific economic activities, trips,
participation in cultural events, forums and others, carried out on tourist sites and directed toward
creation, offering, implementation and consumption of commodities and services forming the tourist
product.
(2) Tourist activities are:
1. the tour operation activity and tour agency activity;
2. hotel an restaurant keeping;
3. providing additional tourist services.
(3) Tourist sites are:
1. the shelter places - hotels, motels, villa and tourist settlements;
2. the accommodation places - boarding houses, recreation homes, family hotels, individual rooms,
villas, houses, bungalows, camping sites and tourist huts;
3. food and entertainment establishments - restaurants, fast food establishments, public houses, cafes and
bars;
4. the places of tour operation and tourist agency and information services;
5. the centres and the places for offering and using tourist services: balneological, sport, entertainment
and floor show places, etc.;
6. the museums, reservations, cultural monuments and monuments of the historical heritage according to
the Law for the cultural monuments and museums, as well as the cultural institutes according to the Law
for protection and development of culture;
7. the national parks, the natural parks, the reservations, the protected areas and natural landmarks
according to the Law for the protected territories.
(4) Tourism is:
1. holiday;
2. cultural;
3. ecological;
4. health and balneological;
5. sport;
6. rural;
7. other.
Art. 4. The state shall carry out its tourism policy by:
1. assisting its development as a priority branch of the national economy;
2. creating normative basis for its development in compliance with the international norms, rules and
usual practice;
3. providing financially and implementing national advertising of the tourist product;
4. creating conditions for development of the cultural tourism;
5. carrying out management and control of the quality of tourism;
6. carrying out the inter-governmental cooperation in tourism.
6.2 BODIES OF MANAGEMENT
Section I. State bodies
Art. 5. The Minister of Economy shall implement the state policy in tourism by:
1. working out a strategy and short-term programmes for development of tourism;
2. coordinating the activity of the ministries and administrative bodies;
3. establishing a Central Expert Commission for licensing and categorisation with the participation of
representatives of the nationally represented tourist associations;
4. issuing licences for tour operation and tourist agency upon proposal of the Central Expert
Commission for licensing and categorisation;
5. categorising the tourist sites upon proposal of the Central Expert Commission for licensing and
categorisation in the cases stipulated by the law;
6. organising and coordinating the management and control of the quality in tourism;
7. organising the creation and maintenance of a national tourist register;
8. organising and controlling the carrying out of a national advertising in the sphere of tourism and
assisting the tourist associations in promoting the tourist product on the international and home market;
9. managing the National Council of Tourism and approving the annual programme for national
advertising adopted by it;
10. creating, maintaining and renovating the unified system of tourist information;
11. controlling the activity of the Commission for trade and protection of the consumers and of the
Executive Agency for national tourist advertising and information;
12. assisting the creation and maintenance of the infrastructure and informational and reservation
systems related to tourism;
13. assisting the attraction of foreign investments and the implementation of projects for development of
tourism on national, regional and local level;
14. carrying out international cooperation and representing the country before the international
organisations in the sphere of tourism;
15. coordinating the creation of a unified system of training and improvement of the qualification of the
personnel in tourism, jointly with the Minister of Education and Science, the Minister of Culture and the
Minister of Labour and Social Policy;
16. determining the centres and the places of offering and using balneological and other medical services
jointly with the Minister of Health.
Art. 6. (1) The regional governor shall implement the state policy in tourism on the territory of the
region by:
1. organising, jointly with the tourist associations, the working out of a strategy and programmes for the
development of tourism and coordinating their implementation; the strategy and the programmes shall
be a part of the regional plan for regional development and shall be worked out on the basis of the
national priorities for development of tourism, as well as of the local and regional tourist resources and
needs;
2. coordinating with the mayors in the region and with other regional governors in the region the
implementation of the National Programme for development of tourism.
(2) The regional council for regional development, according to the Law for the regional development,
shall assist the regional governor in fulfilment of his functions according to this law.
Section II. National Council of Tourism. Agency for national tourist advertising and information
Art. 7. (1) Established is National Council of Tourism as a governmental and public consultative and
coordination body of the Minister of Economy.
(2) Chairman of the National Council of Tourism is the Minister of Economy or an official authorised
by him.
(3) The Minister of Economy shall appoint the representatives of the government in the National
Council of Tourism in coordination with the heads of the respective state administrative bodies.
(4) Participating in the National Council of Tourism shall be representatives of:
1. the government, appointed by the order of para 3;
2. tourist associations determined under conditions and by an order of the regulations under art. 8;
3. associations of air, land and water carriers determined under conditions and by an order of the
regulations under art. 8;
4. nationally represented associations of the consumers in the Republic of Bulgaria determined under
conditions and by an order of the regulations under art. 8;
5. the National Association of the Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria.
(5) The National Council of Tourism shall:
1. propose to the Minister of Economy he annual programme for spending the resources of the state
financial support of the development of tourism;
2. work out and adopt a programme of the national advertising in the sphere of tourism and propose it
for approval by the Minister of Economy;
3. coordinate the implementation of the national advertising in the sphere of tourism;
4. adopt and propose to the Minister of Economy for approval the annual report of the executive director
of the Executive Agency for national tourist advertising and information for fulfilment of the
programme for national advertising;
5. discuss and propose to the Minister of Economy worked out concepts and programmes for
development of the tourism in the country;
6. give opinion on draft normative acts and make proposals for their amendment, supplement or
revoking;
7. discuss issues related to the creation and maintenance of the tourist infrastructure and attraction of
foreign investments in tourism;
8. discuss the readiness of the Bulgarian air carriers for fulfilment of their charter programmes;
9. discuss the preparation for the tourist seasons and the results from them;
10. discuss the results from the activity of the bodies assigned to whom is the control in the tourism and
the related activities and give opinion for the improvement of the work of the control bodies;
11. discuss issues and give recommendations for improvement of the protection of the users of tourist
services.
Art. 8. (1) The Minister of Economy shall determine the number of the members of the National Council
of Tourism and shall issue regulations for its organisation and activity.
2) The representatives under art. 7, para 4, item 2 - 5 shall represent a total of the half of the members of
the National Council of Tourism.
(3) The National Council of Tourism shall adopt its decisions by a majority of more than half of the total
number of the members.
Art. 9. (1) Established is Executive Agency for national tourist advertising and information with the
Minister of Economy with the following tasks:
1. fulfilment of the programme for national advertising;
2. carrying out methodological management and coordination of the activity of the regional and local
tourist information centres;
3. creation and maintenance of a national electronic system for tourist information;
4. coordination of the activity of the Bulgarian cultural institutes, missions and associations abroad for
promotion of the Bulgarian cultural and historic heritage.
(2) The Executive Agency for the national tourist advertising and information is a corporate body at
budget support with headquarters in Sofia.
(3) The activity, the structure, the organisation of the work and the personnel of the Agency shall be
determined by structural regulations adopted by the Council of Ministers upon proposal of the Minister
of Economy.
Section III. Bodies of the local independent government and local administration
Art. 10. (1) The municipal council shall adopt a programme for development of tourism on the territory
of the respective municipality in compliance with the priorities of the national strategy and in
compliance with the local tourist resources and needs.
2) The mayor of the municipality shall:
1. work out a programme for the development of tourism in the municipality jointly with the tourist
associations and with other non-profit corporate bodies related to the development of tourism;
2. establish a consultative council for the issues of tourism with representatives of the local
administration, the tourist associations, other non-profit corporate bodies related to the development of
tourism, associations of the local business and of the consumers;
3. establish a municipal expert commission for categorisation of the tourist sites of which half of the
members are representatives of tourist associations operating on the territory of the municipality, if any;
4. categorise the tourist sites according to art. 52, para 1 upon proposal of the municipal expert
commission for categorisation;
5. cerate and maintain a register of the sites on the territory of the municipality categorised by him;
6. certify the registers of the accommodated tourists of persons carrying out tourist activity as hotel
keepers on the territory of the municipality;
7. assist the advertising of the tourist product of the municipality;
8. organise the information services for tourists, including through creation of tourist information centres
or bureaux;
9. assist the maintenance and preservation of the natural and cultural-historic sites on the territory of the
municipality;
10. exercise control over the observation of the law and of the normative acts for its implementation;
11. assist the state bodies in implementing the policy in tourism and exercising the control over the
quality of the tourist product on the territory of the municipality.
Section IV. Tourist associations
Art. 11. (1) Established in the Republic of Bulgaria can be tourist associations registered as non-profit
corporate bodies.
2) The associations under para 1 shall be established on territorial and professional principle and they
can be:
1. national, regional and local associations;
2. branch and product associations.
Art. 12. (1) The tourist associations, in compliance with their statutes, shall:
1. represent and defend the interests of their members before the respective bodies of the central and
local administration and of the local independent government;
2. participate in the development of strategies and programmes for development of tourism on national
scale, on the territory of the region and of the municipality and assist their implementation;
3. assist the advertising of the tourist product;
4. assist the creation and functioning of tourist information centres or bureaux;
5. participate in the categorisation of the tourist sites;
6. participate in the licensing of persons for carrying out tourist activities;
7. assist the improvement of the professional qualification of the personnel engaged in tourism;
8. participate in the control over the observing of the normative acts in the sphere of tourism;
9. stipulate the professional ethics in tourism and non-admission of disloyal competition between and
regarding their members and approach the competent bodies regarding the committed offences of the
legislation.
2) Tourist association, registered as a non-profit association for carrying out socially useful activity,
shall spend its property for the development and strengthening of tourism.
(3) The tourist associations shall assist the work of the state and local bodies in implementing the policy
in the sphere of tourism and in the management and control of the quality of tourism.
Art. 13. The state bodies and the bodies of the local independent government and local administration
shall render assistance to the tourist associations for the fulfilment of their objectives.
Art. 14. The tourist associations shall submit at the Ministry of Economy documents for registration,
legitimising them as such, according to the requirements for entry in the National Tourist Register.
6.3 FINANCIAL PROMOTION OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM
Art. 15. (1) The state shall promote financially the tourism by providing resources for:
1. national advertising in the sphere of tourism;
2. control over the quality of the tourist product;
3. unified system of tourist information;
4. unified system of training and qualification of the personnel engaged in tourism;
5. analyses and prognoses for the condition and development of tourism;
6. sociological studies in the sphere of tourism on national level;
7. participation in projects of international programmes.
(2) The resources under para 1 shall be submitted annually through the budget of the Ministry of
Economy as follows:
1. subsidy from the central budget;
2. revenue from:
a) fees for licensing tourist activities and for categorisation of tourist sites;
b) fines and proprietary sanctions under this law imposed by the chairman of the Commission for trade
and defence of the consumers;
c) interests;
d) other resources determined by a normative act.
(3) The resources for the development of tourism shall also be provided by donations and aid, as well as
by international programmes and agreements.
(4) The resources under para 2 and 3 shall be spent on the grounds of the annual programme adopted by
the National Council of Tourism and approved by the Minister of Economy.
(5) The annual programme shall be adopted by the National Council of Tourism by the end of May of
the preceding year.
Art. 16. (1) By a decision of the municipal council the municipality shall create a municipal fund for
development of tourism.
(2) The resources of the fund under para 1 shall be raised by a decision of the municipal council from:
1. the tourist fees determined by the order of the Law for the local taxes and fees collected on the
territory of the municipality, paid for spending the night in shelters or in accommodation places;
2. the fines and proprietary sanctions under this law imposed by the mayor of the municipality;
3. the fees for categorisation of tourist sites according to art. 55, para 4;
4. resources submitted for fulfilment of expedient programmes and projects;
5. donations and aid, resources of international programmes and agreements when they are not due to
the state budget;
6. interests;
7. other sources.
(3) The resources under para 2 shall be spent in fulfilment of the Municipal Programme for development
of tourism.
6.4 CONDITIONS AND ORDER OF CARRYING OUT TOURIST ACTIVITIES
Section I. Tour operator's and tourist agent's activity
Art. 17. (1) Tour operator's or tourist agent's activity on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria shall be
carried out only on the basis of a licence issued by an order of the Minister of Economy.
(2) The licence under para 1 shall be termless.
(3) The licence under para 1 cannot be ceded or transferred.
(4) Issued to the licensed persons shall be a licence and a sticker which shall be shown in a visible place
of the tourist site.
(5) Joint activity of two or more persons can be carried out when each of them holds licence for carrying
out the respective tourist activity.
Art. 18. (1) The order of issuing, refusing, termination and withdrawal of licences for tour operator's or
tourist agent's activity shall be settled by an ordinance adopted by the Council of Ministers.
(2) Fees whose size shall be determined by a tariff adopted by the Council of Ministers shall be paid for
the issuance of licences by the order of the law.
Art. 19. (1) Licence for tour operator's or tourist agent's activity shall be issued to a person applying for
that and:
1. who is entrepreneur in the context of the Commercial Law or who is a corporate body having the
right, by virtue of another law, to carry out economic activity;
2. whose personnel carrying out tour operator's or tourist agent's activity meets the requirements for
education, foreign language qualification and time of service determined by the ordinance under art. 18,
para 1;
3. who has provided suitable premises for carrying out tour operator's or tourist agent's activity meeting
the requirements determined by the ordinance under art. 18, para 1;
4. who has submitted recommendations by a nationally represented tourist association of persons
carrying out tour operator's or tourist agent's activity;
5. who is not under proceedings for liquidation or bankruptcy;
6. who has not carried out tour operator's or tourist agent's activity without a licence during the last 12
months;
7. whose licence for tour operator's or tourist agent's activity has not been withdrawn during the last 12
months.
(2) If the person applying for licence does not present recommendation according to para 1, item 4 the
licensing body shall require it ex-officio. If the tourist association does not issue recommendations
within 14 days from requesting it the documents filed by the person shall be considered valid.
(3) A person who has received a written notification for issued order for licence for tour operator's
activity must present to the licensing body a concluded insurance contract according to art. 42 at the
time of receiving a licence and a sticker.
(4) The persons holding licence for tour operator's activity can carry out tourist agent's activity without
an individual licence if they meet the requirements determined by the ordinance under art. 18, para 1.
Art. 20. The Minister of Economy shall issue or refuse the issuance of licence for tour operator's or
tourist agent's activity by an order upon proposal of the Central Expert Commission for licensing and
categorisation within 3 months from the date of filing the application by the person.
Art. 21. (1) The Minister of Economy shall refuse to issue licence for lack of some of the conditions
under art. 19, para 1 by motivating his refusal in writing.
(2) The order of the Minister of Economy for refusal to issue licence for tour operator's or tourist agent's
activity can be appealed by the order of the Law for the Supreme Administrative Court.
Art. 22. The licence for tour operator's activity or tourist agent's activity shall be terminated:
1. upon request of the licensed person;
2. upon termination of the corporate body;
3. upon termination of the economic activity of the person;
4. because of death of the individual - sole entrepreneur;
5. upon declaring the person bankrupt;
6. if the person, within 6 months from filing the application, does not appear to receive a licence and a
sticker.
Art. 23. (1) The licence for tour operator's activity or tourist agent's activity shall be withdrawn for:
1. established non-compliance with the requirements of art. 19, para 1;
2. not observing the requirements of art. 42;
3. conclusion of contract with not licensed tour operator, tourist agent or carrier;
4. conclusion of contract with a person keeping hotel or restaurant in a tourist site which is not
categorised;
5. conclusion of contract for carrying out tourist activity with foreign hotel keepers, restaurant keepers,
tour operators or tourist agents who have not certified their right to carry out the respective tourist
activity according to his national legislation;
6. issuance of a document of false contents in carrying out tourist activities when it is established by a
court order;
7. repeated violation of the requirements for carrying out tour operator's or tourist agent's activity;
8. violation of the Bulgarian legislation settling the entry, stay and exit of foreign tourists on the territory
of the Republic of Bulgaria.
(2) The order of the Minister of Economy for withdrawing a licence can be appealed by the order of the
Law for the Supreme Administrative Court.
Art. 24. (1) In carrying out tour operator's or tourist agent's activity on the territory of the country the
tour operator or tourist agent shall conclude contracts with licensed tour operators, tourist agents,
insurers, as well as with persons keeping hotels and restaurants in categorised tourist sites.
(2) The tour operator or tourist agent shall conclude with the tourist, on behalf and for the account of a
licensed insurer, obligatory insurance "medical expenses related to disease and accident of the tourist"
for trips outside the country.
3) For conclusion of the insurance under para 2 an insurance agent in the context of the Law for the
insurance can also be a corporate body.
Art. 25. (1) The tourist voucher shall be issued for internal and outgoing tourism only by a licensed tour
operator.
(2) The tourist voucher can also be submitted to the tourist by a tourist agent only on behalf and for the
account of a licensed tour operator.
3) The tourist agent shall not have the right to issue his own tourist voucher.
(4) The tourist voucher shall be issued to the tourist upon payment of the tourist trip.
5) The tourist voucher shall be issued in no less than three copies and shall contain the following
obligatory details:
1. number and date of issuance of the voucher;
2. company of the tour operator - issuer of the voucher;
3. number of the licence of the tour operator;
4. number of the licence for tourist agent's activity of the person representing the tour operator;
5. name of the tourist;
6. a list of the prepaid services included in the tourist trip;
7. date of fulfilment of the first and last service;
8. counter agents of the services;
9. number and date of a document certifying the payment by the user;
10. signature of the employee and seal of the issuer.
Art. 26. In the tourist sites for carrying out tour operator's and tourist agent's activity shall be carried out
only activities directly or indirectly related to the offering of basic and additional tourist services.
Section II. Organised group and individual tourist trips at common price
Art. 27. (1) The provisions of this section settle the conditions and the order of carrying out organised
group and individual tourist trips at common price (organised trips).
(2) Programmes for organised trips shall be offered only by licensed tour operators and/or licensed
tourist agents.
Art. 28. (1) The information submitted by the tour operator or tourist agent regarding organised trips,
their price and regarding all other terms of the contract must be precise and complete and must not
mislead the user.
(2) The tour operator or tourist agent shall submit to the user information in writing which shall contain:
1. the price announced in levs and the way of payment;
2. used transport vehicles and their category;
3. initial and final date of the trip;
4. initial, end point and route of the trip;
5. location, category and kind of the tourist site;
6. number of nights to be spent included in the tourist trip;
7. number and kind of the meals included in the tourist trip;
8. minimal number of participants, where necessary for the fulfilment of the trip, and deadline for
notification of the user if this number is not achieved;
9. general information about the passport and visa regime, as well as information regarding the medical
and sanitary requirements related to the trip;
10. name of the insurance company with whom the insurance contract under art. 42 has been concluded.
(3) The information under para 1 must be clear, precise and legibly written.
(4) The tour operator shall be bounded with the information expressed in writing and cannot change it
except in the cases when:
1. explicitly stipulated is a possibility of introducing changes to it and the user has been informed about
them before the conclusion of the contract;
2. the changes have been introduced subsequently upon agreement between the parties.
(5) The tour operator or tourist agent shall be obliged to submit, before the conclusion of the contract, to
the user in writing or in other suitable way information regarding the passport and visa regime and the
deadline for receiving the necessary documents, as well as information regarding the medical and
sanitary requirements related to the trip and the stay.
Art. 29. (1) The tour operator or tourist agent must submit in writing to the user all terms of the contract
before its conclusion.
(2) The obligation for submission of information under para 1 and art. 28, para5 shall not apply for
making reservations and conclusion of contract for organised trip at the last moment.
Art. 30. (1) By the contract for organised trip the tour operator shall oblige himself to provide a tourist
trip at a common price t the user against payment of a definite price.
(2) The contract for organised trip shall be concluded in writing and a copy of it shall be submitted to
the user.
(3) The contract must contain:
1. date and place of conclusion;
2. company, headquarters, address of management, number of the licence of the tour operator and/or
tourist agent, as well as name, address, UCC, data from the personal document of the user;
3. used transport vehicles, their category and identification signs, date and hour of departure and return
from the starting and end point and the route of the trip, time of arrival and duration of stay;
4. location, type of the tourist sites, their category and number of nights to be spent when the trip
includes staying at night;
5. type and category of the food and entertainment establishment, number and kind of meals included in
the tourist trip;
6. visits, excursions, transfers and other services included in the common price;
7. special requirements of the user declared by him before the conclusion of the contract for which an
agreement has been reached between the parties to the contract;
8. common price announced in levs of all services included in the contract, other payments not included
in the price, term and way of payment;
9. possibility of changing the price, the order and the way by which it shall be recalculated in the cases
of art. 34, para 1;
10. deadline by which the user shall have the right to refuse the contract without owing forfeit or
indemnification, as well as deadline by which the user must inform the tour operator or tourist agent that
he cedes his trip to a third person;
11. size of the forfeit owed by the user to the tour operator in case of refusing the contract after the term
of item 10;
12. minimal number of participants if such is necessary for the fulfilment of the trip and deadline of
informing the user when this number is not achieved and the trip can be cancelled;
13. obligation to inform the user about his rights under art. 35, para 1;
14. requirements for the form, the way and terms by which the user has the right to claims in case of non
fulfilment or incorrect fulfilment of the contract;
15. company and address of the insurer with whom the tour operator has concluded the insurance
contract under art. 42.
(4) The tour operator cannot refer to the lack of a detail in the contract.
(5) The contract shall contain information regarding the essential elements of the concluded obligatory
insurance "medical expenses related to a disease or accident of the tourist" for trips outside the country.
(6) The tour operator or tourist agent shall submit to the user an original copy of the insurance policy for
insurance "medical expenses related to a disease or accident of the tourist" before the beginning of the
trip.
Art. 31. The contract for organised trip cannot contain unequal clauses in the context of art. 35 and
subsequent of the Law for defence of the consumers and the rules of trade.
Art. 32. (1) The tour operator or tourist agent shall be obliged to present to the user in writing, upon the
conclusion of the contract, but not later than 7 work days before the beginning of the trip, information
for:
1. the name or the company, the address and telephone number of his representative in the place of visit,
and if there is no representative - data for contacts with the organisations in the place of visit which can
render assistance to the user in case of difficulty; if there is no such organisation submitted to the user
shall be a telephone or fax number for connection with the tour operator or tourist agent;
2. the time and the places of intermediate stops and connections;
3. the type and the category of the used transport vehicles and the kind of the seat to be taken by the user
in the transport vehicle;
4. insurance related to the fulfilment of the contract;
5. the possibility of concluding an insurance contract for covering the expenses in case of refusing the
trip on part of the user and of the expenses related to assistance, including for repatriation, as well as in
cases of accident, disease or death.
(2) When the period between the conclusion of the contract and the beginning of the trip is shorter than
7 work days the information under para 1 shall be submitted at the time of concluding the contract.
(3) For trips abroad of minor or underage persons the tour operator or tourist agent shall submit, within
the period under para 1, to the parent, guardian or trustee information enabling a direct contact with the
minor/underage or with the person responsible for him at the place of his stay.
Art. 33. The information under art. 28, para 1 and art. 32, para 1 must also be submitted in Bulgarian
language.
Art. 34. (1) The price of the organise trip cannot be changed except in the cases when this is explicitly
stipulated by the contract and on condition that the contract determines the way of calculating the
change of the price and the change is due only to a change of:
1. the transport cost, including the fuel;
2. the size of fees related to used services under the contract, such as airport, port and other fees;
3. the exchange rate related to the contract in the period between its conclusion and the departure date.
(2) The price cannot be increased 20 days before the initial date of the trip.
(3) The increase of the price must be economically substantiated and correspond to the changed
expenses.
Art. 35. (1) When the tour operator introduces a considerable change to some of the substantial clauses
of the contract the tour operator or tourist agent shall be obliged to inform immediately the user who
can:
1. accept the changes which shall be certified by an additional written agreement to the contract which
specifies their effect on the price or
2. give up the contract without owing forfeit or indemnification.
(2) A change of the price by more than 5 percent shall be considered a considerable change of the
contract.
(3) The user shall inform the tour operator or tourist agent about his decision within 3 days from receipt
of the notification, but not later than the initial day of the trip.
(4) If the user gives up the contract according to para 1, item 2 he shall have the right to chose one of the
following options:
1. to be offered another trip of the same or higher quality when the tour operator or tourist agent is in
position to offer such or
2. to be offered a tourist trip at common price, of lower quality, and in this case the tour operator or
tourist agent shall be obliged to reimburse to the user the difference of the price between the cancelled
and offer trip or
3. to have reimbursed the sums paid by him according to the contract within 7 days from the date of
receiving the notification for refusal according to para 3.
(5) Regardless of the cases under para 1, 3 and 4 the user shall have the right to claim indemnification
for all proprietary and non-proprietary damages incurred by the non-fulfilment or incorrect fulfilment of
the contract.
Art. 36. (1) If the tour operator cancels the organised trip before its beginning for a reason which is not
due to the user the latter shall have the rights under art. 35, para 4; in these cases the user shall also have
the rights under art. 35, para 5 except:
1. when the minimal number of participants has not bee achieved for the organised trip and about which
the user has been informed in writing by the deadlines determined by the contract or
2. if the cancellation of the trip is due to an insurmountable force.
(2) Double reservations shall not be considered insurmountable force.
Art. 37. (1) The user can transfer his rights and obligations under the contract to a third person who
meets all requirements for the trip, informing in advance the tour operator or tourist agent by a deadline
determined by the contract.
(2) The user who transfers his rights and obligations and the person to whom the trip is transferred shall
be jointly responsible before the tour operator or tourist agent for payment of the common price under
the contract and of the expenses related to the transfer.
Art. 38. (1) The user shall inform immediately the provider of the services and the tour operator or
tourist agent about each incorrect fulfilment of the contract established by him during the trip and the
stay. The notification must be made in writing or in other suitable form, including by fax, e-mail or other
technical means enabling it reproduction.
(2) The provider of the services and the tour operator, the tourist agent or their local representative shall
be obliged, within the shortest period from filing the claim, to undertake the necessary measures for
satisfying the user.
Art. 39. (1) The tour operator shall be responsible for each failure to fulfil his obligations under the
contract regardless of whether these obligations must be fulfilled by him or his counter agents.
(2) The tour operator can lay a claim against his counter agents in case of non-fulfilment of the
obligations under the contract concluded between them.
(3) The tour operator shall not bear responsibility for damages caused by non-fulfilment or incorrect
fulfilment of the contract due to:
1. the user;
2. acts of a third person not related to the fulfilment of the contract which cannot be foreseen or avoided;
3. insurmountable force or event which cannot be foreseen or avoided on the part of the tour operator or
his counter agents in case of a conscientious fulfilment of their obligations.
(4) In the cases under para 3, item 2 and 3 the tour operator shall be obliged to render immediate
assistance to the user.
Art. 40. (1) The contract for organised trip can settle an upper limit of the responsibility of the tour
operator for damages caused to the user as a result of non-fulfilment or incorrect fulfilment of the
contract. The upper limit of the responsibility of the tour operator agreed between the parties cannot
exceed the triple size of the price of the trip.
(2) When the responsibility of the counter agents of the tour operator for damages caused by the non-
fulfilment or incorrect fulfilment of the services under the contract is limited by international agreements
ratified and promulgated in the State Gazette, in force for the Republic of Bulgaria, the contract for
organised trip can stipulate limitation of the responsibility of the tour operator in compliance with the
provisions of these agreements.
(3) The provisions of para 1 and 2 shall not apply in the cases of bodily injury.
(4) Outside the cases under para 1 and 2 the contract for organised trip cannot include clauses releasing
the tour operator from his responsibility under art. 39, para 1.
Art. 41. (1) When, during the trip, a considerable part of the services under the contract is not fulfilled or
the tour operator finds that he will not be in position to fulfil a considerable part of these services he
shall be obliged to undertake all suitable measures for continuation of the trip, without being connected
with additional expenses for the consumer and to indemnify him for a difference between the contracted
and actually provided services.
(2) If the tour operator does not undertake suitable measures for continuation of the trip the user can
claim indemnification of the additional expenses made by him.
(3) When it is impossible to take suitable measures according to para 1 or they are not accepted by the
user for a valid reason the tour operator shall be obliged:
1. to provide transport to the starting point of the trip or to another agreed place, without additional
expenses for the user, and
2. indemnify the user for the caused damages.
Art. 42. (1) The tour operator shall conclude an insurance covering his liability for caused damages as a
result of not paying to his counter agents, including in case of insolvency and bankruptcy, as the
insurance shall cover:
1. reimbursement of the sums paid by the user according to the contract before the beginning of the trip;
2. payment of the difference in the cases when during the trip only a part of the services agreed by the
contract have been provided;
3. the expenses related to the return of the user to the initial point of the trip.
(2) If the tour operator or tourist agent does not submit to the user the insurance contract under para 1
the user shall have the right to refuse the contract without owing forfeit or indemnification.
(3) The refusal of the user under para 2 must be made in writing before the tour operator or tourist agent
before the beginning of the trip.
(4) The tour operator shall inform the Minister of Economy about the contract under para 1 concluded
by him and about its term of validity for entering in the National Tourist Register.
(5) The conditions and the order of concluding the insurance contract under para 1 shall be determined
by an act of the Council of Ministers which shall also stipulate the insurance coverage, the limits of
responsibility, the way of determining the insurance premium and others.
Art. 43. The provisions of this section shall also apply in the cases when for individual tourist services,
included in the organised trip of the user, an individual document for payment is issued.
Section III. Hotel keeping and restaurant keeping
Art. 44. (1) The hotel keeping or restaurant keeping shall be carried out only in tourist sites categorised
or under opened procedure for categorisation according to the requirements of this law.
(2) The persons keeping hotels or restaurants shall be entered by the categorising body ex-officio in the
National Tourist Register under art. 58.
Art. 45. Hotel keeping or restaurant keeping shall be carried out by a person who:
1. is an entrepreneur in the context of the Commercial Law or who is a corporate body having the right,
by virtue of another law, to carry out economic activity;
2. carries out the activity in a categorised place of shelter, place of accommodation or food and
entertainment establishment;
3. is not under proceedings for liquidation or bankruptcy.
Art. 46. The persons keeping hotel or restaurant shall be obliged:
1. to provide tourist services meeting the requirements for the determined category of the site;
2. to carry out the respective activity only in a categorised tourist site;
3. to observe the Bulgarian legislation settling the stay of tourists on the territory of the Republic of
Bulgaria;
4. to erect, in the close vicinity of the entrance of the tourist site, the board according to art. 55, para 1
and the following information:
a) the company and the headquarters of the entrepreneur;
b) the working time of the tourist site;
c) the name of the person - manager of the site.
Art. 47. (1) The person keeping hotels shall be obliged:
1. to announce the prices of the sleeping accommodation and of the other offered services by a price list
put in a place visible for the user, close to the reception and in every room;
2. to announce the prices in such a way that they can be easily understood, to be legibly written and not
to mislead the users;
3. the prices shall obligatorily be announced in levs as well.
(2) The persons keeping food and entertainment establishments shall be obliged to draw price lists: list-
menu for the kitchen and confectionery production and a card-menu for alcoholic beverages and soft
drinks containing the respective sale price and weight in grams.
(3) The list-menu and the card-menu must be submitted to every user before the order and at presenting
the bill.
(4) The list-menu and the card-menu shall obligatorily be written in Bulgarian as well.
(5) For each sale of a tourist service a sale document shall be issued obligatorily, which shall contain at
least data about the date of sale, the kind of the service and the price.
Art. 48. The persons keeping hotels and/or restaurants shall conclude contracts only with tour operators,
tourist agents, hotel keepers or restaurant keepers who have certified their right to carry out the
respective kind of tourist activity.
Art. 49. (1) The persons keeping hotels shall be obliged to keep a register of the accommodated tourists
and of the number of sleeping accommodations, including of the nationality of the tourist.
(2) The register shall be certified monthly by the mayor of the respective municipality or by an official
authorised by him.
(3) The persons keeping hotels shall be obliged to present information monthly for the number of
sleeping accommodations in the respective municipality.
Art. 50. (1) Subject to categorisation shall be the tourist sites under art. 3, para 3, item 1, 2 and 3
regardless of the form of ownership and the way of administering.
(2) Procedure for categorisation of a tourist site shall be opened upon filing application accompanied by
all required documents stipulated by the ordinance for categorisation under art. 55, para 3 by the person
who carries out or will carry out hotel keeping or restaurant keeping.
(3) Issued to the person under para 2 shall be a temporary certificate for opened procedure for
categorisation, valid for the periods indicated in art. 52, para 3, which shall be put in a visible place in
the site.
(4) The category of the tourist site shall be determined on the basis of compliance with the minimal
obligatory requirements for construction, furnishing and equipment, servicing, offered services and
professional language qualification of the personnel indicated in the ordinance for categorisation
according to art. 55, para 3.
(5) The category of the tourist site shall be determined for a period of three years, which period can be
extended by no longer than two years.
(6) The tourist huts shall be categorised according to an ordinance adopted by the managing board of the
Bulgarian Tourist Union and approved by the Minister of Economy.
(7) Subject to categorisation according to this law shall not be food and entertainment establishments
located in educational and health establishments, administrative bodies and enterprises, designated for
using only by the reckoned persons.
Art. 51. (1) The places of shelter and the places of accommodation, as well as the food and
entertainment establishments shall be rated in the following categories: "one star", "two stars", "three
stars", "four stars" and "five stars".
(2) The kinds of places of shelter, the places of accommodation, the food and entertainment
establishments, as well as the criteria for the respective category of every kind shall be determined by
the ordinance under art. 55, para 3.
(3) The food and entertainment establishments adherent to the places of shelter and places of
accommodation can obtain a category different from the one for the place of shelter or the place of
accommodation, as the difference between them shall not be more than one star.
Art. 52. (1) The mayor of the municipality, at the proposal of the municipal expert commission for
categorisation shall determine a category of:
1. the places of shelter - category "one star" and the adherent food and entertainment establishments;
2. the family hotels, the boarding houses, the houses and individual rooms, as well as the adherent food
and entertainment establishments - category "one star", "two stars" and "three stars";
3. the other places of accommodation - category "one star", "two stars" and the adherent food and
entertainment establishments;
4. the independent food and entertainment establishments - category "one star" and "two stars".
(2) The Minister of Economy, at the proposal of the Central Expert Commission for licensing and
categorisation shall determine a category of:
1. the places of shelter - category "two stars", "three stars", "four stars" and "five stars" and the adherent
food and entertainment establishments;
2. the places of accommodation, with exception of family hotels, boarding houses, houses and individual
rooms - category "three stars", "four stars" and "five stars" and the adherent food and entertainment
establishments;
3. the independent food and entertainment establishments - category "three stars", "four stars" and "five
stars".
(3) The determination of category of a tourist site shall be made upon filing application by the owner of
a tourist site or by a person authorised by him:
1. for the sites under para 1 - within two months from the date of opening a procedure for categorisation
by an order of the mayor of the respective municipality;
2. for the sites under para 2 - within three months from the date of opening a procedure for
categorisation by an order of the Minister of Economy.
Art. 53. (1) Category of a tourist site shall be terminated:
1. upon the expiration of the term;
2. upon request of the owner of the tourist site;
3. for a change of the type of the tourist site;
4. for reconstruction or expansion of the tourist site;
5. for repeated violation of the requirements of art. 46, item 1;
6. if within six months the person who has filed application for categorisation does not appear for
receiving the category symbol.
(2) After the termination of the category of the tourist site a new category of the site shall be determined
by the order of the ordinance under art. 55, para 3.
Art. 54. (1) The categorising body shall refuse the determination of a category for failure to meet the
requirements for the respective kind of tourist site determined by the ordinance under art. 55, para 3.
(2) The order of the categorising body by which determination of a category is refused or a category is
determined, different from the requested one, can be appealed by the order of the Law for the
administrative proceedings or by the order of the Law for the Supreme Administrative Court.
Art. 55. (1) Issued to the categorised tourist sites shall be a category symbol depending on their kind,
including a certificate and a board which shall be put in a visible place of the site.
(2) The inscriptions for the kind, the name and the category of the tourist sites must not mislead the
tourist.
(3) The conditions and the order of determining the category of the tourist site, the refusal for
determining, the termination and change of the category shall be settled by an ordinance adopted by the
Council of Ministers.
(4) Paid for the categorisation of tourist sites shall be fees determined by a tariff adopted by the Council
of Ministers.
Art. 56. (1) In case of a change of the ownership of a site categorised by the order of the law the person
who has acquired the ownership shall file an application with the categorising body for registration of
the changed circumstances in the National Tourist Register.
(2) In case of a change of the tenant of a site categorised by the order of the law the latter shall file an
application with the categorising body for registration of the changed circumstances in the National
Tourist Register.
(3) In the case under para 1 the category of the tourist site shall be preserved for the period for which it
has been issued.
Section IV. Unified system of tourist information
Art. 57. The Minister of Economy and the chairman of the National Institute of Statistics shall work out
a unified system of tourist information which shall include the National Tourist Register and the
statistical data for the tourism in compliance with the requirements of the statistical service of the
European Union - EUROSTAT and of the World Organisation of Tourism.
Art. 58. Established is National Tourist Register in the Ministry of Economy containing information for:
1. the licensed tour operators and tourist agents;
2. the persons keeping hotels and restaurants;
3. the categorised places of shelter, places of accommodation, food and entertainment establishments
and the persons carrying out hotel and restaurant keeping activity in them;
4. the tourist associations;
5. the tourist information centres or bureaux;
Art. 59. (1) The entries in the register shall be made by the Minister of Economy or by an official
authorised by him ex-officio or upon a filed application for indicating changes of the registered
circumstances.
(2) The persons for whom a change of the circumstances has occurred, entered in the register under art.
58, shall be obliged to declare the change in writing in the Ministry of Economy or in the respective
municipality within one month from its occurrence.
(3) For creation and completing the register data shall be gathered from the Ministry of Economy, the
Commission for trade and defence of the consumers, other state bodies, the municipalities on the
territory of the Republic of Bulgaria and from the representatives of the tourist associations.
(4) The National Tourist Register shall contain all changes of the registered circumstances.
Art. 60. (1) The mayors of the municipalities shall be obliged to keep a register by the order of the
ordinance under art. 63 for all tourist sites on the territory of the municipality categorised by them and to
submit information regarding the entries in this register to the Ministry of Economy within 30 days from
the date of the order for the definite category of the tourist site.
(2) The registers under para 1 shall be an integral part of the National Tourist Register.
Art. 61. (1) The following data and circumstances shall be entered in the register:
1. for the licensed persons:
a) number of the licence;
b) kind of the tourist activity;
c) company, headquarters and address of management;
d) address of the place(s) of practising the activity, telephone, fax, e-mail;
e) BULSTAT and tax number;
f) name and UCC of the persons having the right to represent and/or manage the entrepreneur;
g) incoming number of the application for issuance of licence;
h) number of the order of the Minister of Economy for issuance, refusal, termination or withdrawal f the
licence;
i) number and date of the concluded insurance contract under art. 42, name of the insurer, term of
validity of the insurance;
j) imposed compulsory administrative measures and sanctions under this law;
2. for the categorised tourist sites:
a) number of the certificate;
b) type of the site;
c) name of the site;
d) address of the site, telephone, fax;
e) category of the site;
f) capacity of the site;
g) company/name, headquarters/place of residence and permanent address of the owner of the site;
h) BULSTAT and tax number or UCC of the owner;
i) name, headquarters and address of management, BULSTAT and tax number of the person keeping
hotel or restaurant in the site, telephone, fax, e-mail;
j) term of validity of the category;
k) incoming number of the application for determining category;
l) number of the order of the categorising body for determining the category, for refusal or withdrawal of
the category;
m) imposed compulsory administrative measures and sanctions according to this law;
3. for the tourist associations:
a) name, headquarters and address of the association;
b) type of the association;
c) court, number of the case, file, register, volume and page of the court registration of the association,
BULSTAT number, registration number in the register of the Ministry of Justice if the association
carries out socially useful activity;
d) full name, UCC and permanent address, telephone, fax, e-mail of the representative;
e) full names of the members of the managing board, permanent address, telephone, fax, e-mail;
f) number of the organisations and persons members of the association;
g) address, telephone, fax, e-mail of the tourist information centre or bureau;
h) data for the national representation of the association.
(2) The information in the register shall be public in its part regarding:
1. the name of the person, headquarters, address of practising the activity and telephone, type and
number of the issued licence;
2. the determined category, the term of validity, name, address and telephone, type and capacity of the
tourist site and the person carrying out tourist activity in the categorised site;
3. name, type, address and telephone of the association and its representative, address and telephone of
the tourist information centres or bureaux.
(3) Everybody can request information for registered circumstances of the public information under para
2.
Art. 62. (1) The Minister of Economy or an official authorised by him shall require an operative
statistical information for analytical and prognostic purposes in tourist from the persons licensed to carry
out tourist activities, from the persons carrying out activity in categorised tourist sites, from the state and
municipal bodies and tourist associations which they shall be obliged to submit.
(2) Upon request on the part of the persons under para 1 the Minister of Economy or an official
authorised by him shall be obliged to submit analytical tourist information.
(3) The Ministry of Interior shall submit monthly to the Ministry of Economy border statistics for the
entries of foreign citizens in the Republic of Bulgaria and for the trips of Bulgarian citizens for tourism
abroad.
(4) The gathering of the statistical information on the part of the National Office "Border police" shall be
carried out through official channels without requiring from the persons crossing the Bulgarian border to
fill in other documents or forms except those related to the customs control.
Art. 63. The Minister of Economy shall issue an ordinance for the organisation of the Unified System of
tourist information.
6.5 CONTROL
Art. 64. (1) The control over the observance of the law and of the normative acts issued pursuant to it
shall be exercised by:
1. the Minister of Economy;
2. the Commission for trade and defence of the consumers with the Minister of Economy;
3. the mayors of municipalities.
(2) The officials authorised by the bodies under para 1 shall have the right:
1. to free access to the tourist sites subject to control;
2. to require documents, data, information, references and other carriers of information from the
controlled persons, whereas they shall not make public the information constituting official or trade
secret, having become known to them during or on occasion of fulfilment of their official duties;
3. to give written instructions for elimination of the discrepancies and offences related to the law;
4. to draw in experts in the respective sphere when the inspection requires special knowledge or skills.
(3) The bodies under para 1 can coordinate their activities under this law with the control bodies under
other laws.
Art. 65. (1) The Minister of Economy shall:
1. withdraw a licence issued by him for tour operator's and tourist agent's activity in the cases under art.
23, para 1;
2. terminate the category of the tourist objects categorised by him in the cases under art. 53, para 1, item
3, 4, 5 and 6;
3. lower the category of the tourist sites categorised by him at the proposal of the Commission for trade
and defence of the consumers in the cases of non-fulfilment of the requirements of art. 46, para 1.
(2) The mayor of the municipality shall:
1. terminate the category of the tourist sites categorised by him in the cases of art. 53, para 1, item 3, 4, 5
and 6;
2. lower the category of the tourist sites categorised by him at a proposal of the officials authorised by
the bodies under art. 64, para 1, item 2 and 3 in the cases of non-fulfilment of the requirements of art.
46, item 1.
(3) The Commission for trade and defence of the consumers or officials authorised by it shall impose
compulsory administrative measure "temporary closing of the tourist site" in the cases when they
establish:
1. practising tour operator's or tourist agent's without a licence;
2. non-fulfilment of the requirements of art. 42;
3. practising activities of hotel keeping or restaurant keeping in a tourist site which is not categorised;
4. refusal of access to the inspected tourist site by the person carrying out the activity in the site or
refusal to present the documents required for the purposes of the inspection.
(4) For established non-fulfilment of the requirements of art. 46, item 1 the officials authorised by the
Commission for trade and defence of the consumers shall propose to the respective categorising body
the imposing of a compulsory administrative measure "lowering the category of the tourist site".
(5) For established non-fulfilment of the requirements of art. 46, item 1 the officials authorised by the
mayor of the municipality shall propose to him to impose compulsory administrative measure "lowering
of the category of the tourist site".
(6) The compulsory administrative measure "temporary closing of the tourist site" shall be imposed until
the removal of the established offences.
Art. 66. The acts for applying the compulsory administrative measures shall be issued, appealed and
executed by the order established by the Law for the administrative proceedings.
6. 6 ADMINISTRATIVE PENAL PROVISIONS
Art. 67. Who carries out tour operator's or tourist agent's activity without a licence shall be fined by
5000 to 15 000 levs, and the sole entrepreneurs and corporate bodies - by a proprietary sanction of 10
000 to 30 000 levs.
Art. 68. A tour operator or a tourist agent who, in carrying out his activity, concludes a contract with a
tour operator, tourist agent, hotel keeper, restaurant keeper or carrier who has not the right to carry out
the respective tourist activity shall be punished by a proprietary sanction of 2000 to 5000 levs.
Art. 69. A hotel keeper or restaurant keeper who concludes a contract with unlicensed tour operator,
tourist agent, hotel keeper or restaurant keeper who has not the right to carry out the respective tourist
activity shall be punished by a proprietary sanction from 5000 to 10 000 levs.
Art. 70. Tour operator or tourist agent who does not issue or does not submit a tourist voucher to the
tourist shall be punished by a proprietary sanction from 500 to 5000 levs.
Art. 71. Tour operator or tourist agent who issues or submits a tourist voucher not containing all
obligatory details shall be punished by a proprietary sanction of 100 to 1000 levs.
Art. 72. Who provides tourist services in a not categorised tourist site shall be punished by a fine of 500
to 5000 levs and the sole entrepreneurs and corporate bodies - by a proprietary sanction of 1000 to 10
000 levs.
Art. 73. Hotel keeper or restaurant keeper providing tourist services in not categorised tourist site of
lower quality than the required for the determined category shall be punished by a proprietary sanction
of 1000 to 10 000 levs.
Art. 74. Hotel keeper who, when carrying out his activity in a place of shelter, does not keep a register
certified by the respective municipality for the accommodated tourists, for the number of sleeping nights
and for the nationality of the tourists shall be punished by a proprietary sanction of 2000 to 20 000 levs.
Art. 75. Who, in carrying out hotel keeping in a place of accommodation, does not keep a register
certified by the respective municipality for the accommodated tourists, for the number of sleeping nights
and for the nationality of the tourists shall be punished by a fine of 100 to 1000 levs, and the sole
entrepreneurs and corporate bodies - by a proprietary sanction of 200 to 2000 levs.
Art. 76. Tour operator or tourist agent who does not put a licence and a sticker in a visible place in the
tourist site shall be punished by a proprietary sanction of 500 to 5000 levs.
Art. 77. A person managing a tourist site where a certificate for approved category or a temporary
certificate for opened procedure for categorisation are not put in a visible place shall be punished by a
proprietary sanction of 500 to 5000 levs.
Art. 78. Who puts a sign in violation of art. 55, para 2 or presents untrue information fo rthe kind, the
name and the category of the tourist site managed by him shal be punished by a fine of 100 to 1000 levs,
and the sole entrepreneurs and corporate bodies - by a proprietary sanction of 500 to 5000 levs.
Art. 79. Tour operator or tourist agent who violates the provisions of art. 28, 29 and 33 shall be punished
by a proprietary sanction of 100 to 1000 levs.
Art. 80. Tour operator who violates the provision of art.30, para 2 shall by punished by a proprietary
sanction of 500 to 5000 levs.
Art. 81. Tour operator who violates the provision of art.30, para 3 shall by punished by a proprietary
sanction of 250 to 2500 levs.
Art. 82. Tour operator who does not conclude a contract according to art. 42 shall by punished by a
proprietary sanction of 2000 to 20 000 levs.
Art. 83. Who dos not admit an official of the control bodies to the sites subject to control or does not
present to the control bodies documents or information shall be fined by 1000 to 10 000 levs.
Art. 84. For non-fulfilment of the obligations for submitting information to the Ministry of Economy
according to the Unified System of Tourist Information a fine of 100 to 1000 levs shall be imposed, and
to sole entrepreneurs and corporate bodies - a proprietary sanction of 200 to 2000 levs.
Art. 85. Who does not fulfil his obligation under art. 56, para 1 or 2 shall be punished by a fine of 100 to
1000 levs, and the sole entrepreneurs and corporate bodies - by a proprietary sanction of 200 to 2000
levs.
Art. 86. Hotel keeper or restaurant keeper who does not fulfil his obligation under art. 46, item 4 or
under art. 47 shall be punished by a fine of 200 to 2000 levs, and the sole entrepreneurs and corporate
bodies - by a proprietary sanction of 500 to 3000 levs.
Art. 87. (1) The acts for establishing the administrative offences shall be drawn up by officials appointed
by the chairman of the Commission for trade and defence of the consumers or by officials of the
municipal administration appointed by the mayor of the respective municipality.
(2) The penal provisions shall be issued by the chairman of the Commission for trade and defence of the
consumers or by officials authorised by him, respectively by the mayor of the municipality or by
officials authorised by him.
(3) The establishment of the offences, the issuance, the appeal and the execution of the penal provisions
shall be carried out by the order of the Law for the administrative offences and penalties.
Additional provisions
§ 1. In the context of this law:
1. "Tourist" is every individual using basic and/or additional tourist service. Used for the purposes of the
statistics shall be the term of visitor and international visitor determined by the World Organisation of
Tourism and adopted by the Statistical Commission of the UNO.
2. "Hotel keeping" is the provision of tourist services in all kinds of places of shelter and
accommodation categorised according to the law.
3. "Hotel keeper" is a person who carries out hotel keeping.
4. "Restaurant keeping" is the provision of tourist services in all food and entertainment establishments
categorised according to the law.
5. "Restaurant keeper" is a person carrying out restaurant keeping.
6. "Tourist product" is the combination of tourist services offered and/or provided in one or several
tourist sites.
7. "Tour operator's activity" is the formation and implementation of direct, or through a tourist agent,
sale of organised trips in the country and abroad, insurance, reservation of hotel services, guiding,
transport, passenger or other services according to a contract and a voucher in compliance with the
requirements of the acting legislation.
8. "Tour operator" is a person licensed by the order of this law for tour operator's activity.
9. "Tourist agent's activity" is the fulfilment of mediation in: sales of organised trips, passenger aviation,
water and bus transportation; reservation, visa, guiding and other additional tourist services, as well as
insurance related to the tourist trip.
10. "Tourist agent" is a person licensed by the order of this law for carrying out tourist agent's activity.
11. "Tourist voucher" is an accounting document issued by a licensed tour operator who certifies the
existence of a contract between the tour operator and the tourist as a user of the tourist service and
confirms its payment.
12. "Basic tourist services" are night spending and meals, as well as transport services in compliance
with the acting legislation in the sphere of transport.
13. "Additional tourist services" are excursions, entertainment, events and other events of cultural and
introductory nature, sport and animation, balneological and other medical services, visa services,
congress and business events, using rope lines, renting beach installations, equipment and vehicles,
schools and clubs of riding, yachting, surf, ski-schools and other services contributing to the
development of tourism.
14. "organised group and individual tourist trips at common price (organised trips)" are trips according
to a preliminary programme, including a combination of at least two of the following services:
a) transport;
b) spending the night;
c) other tourist services not related to transport or spending the night constituting a substantial part of the
trip and when they are sold or offered for sale at a common price, and when they comprise a period
longer than 24 hours or include spending a night.
15. "User of organised individual or group tourist trips at a common price" is a person:
a) who concludes a contract for a tourist trip at common price or
b) who gives consent to conclude a contract for a tourist trip at a common price or
c) on whose behalf and/or in whose favour a contract for tourist trip is concluded or an agreement is
reached for its conclusion or
d) in whose favour a tourist trip at common price has been transferred according to art. 37.
16. "Tourist association" is a non-profit corporate body regardless of its name, established for the
purpose of development of tourism.
17. "Nationally represented tourist association" is a non-profit corporate body for socially useful
activity, uniting at least 34 percent of the persons licensed for tourist activity, or of the persons carrying
out tourist activity in categorised tourist sites.
18. "Local tourist association" is a non-profit corporate body established on the territory of one or more
neighbouring municipalities and uniting persons carrying out tourist activities and other persons related
to the development of tourism on the respective territory.
19. "regional tourist association" is a non-profit corporate body created on the territory of one or more
neighbouring regions and uniting local tourist associations and other persons related to the development
of tourism.
20. "Branch tourist association" is a non-profit corporate body representing the interests of the branch as
a whole.
21. "Product tourist association" is a non-profit corporate body representing the interests of an individual
segment of the tourist product.
22. "Repeated" is the offence committed within one year from the enactment of the penal provision by
which the offender has been punished for the same kind of offence.
Transitional and concluding provisions
§ 2. This law revokes the Law for tourism (prom., SG 17/98; amend., SG 111/01).
§ 3. The requirements of art. 22, item 5 and art. 53, para 1, item 6 shall also apply for the persons who
have not received the issued licence or category symbols until the enactment of the law.
§ 4. The persons licensed for tour operator's or tourist agent's activity until the enactment of this law
shall be obliged to bring their activity in compliance with the requirements of this law and of the
normative acts for its implementation by January 1, 2003.
§ 5. (1) With the enactment of this law the issued licences for hotel keeping, restaurant keeping and
family hotels keeping shall terminate their validity.
(2) The provisions of art. 18, para 1 and 3 of the revoked Law for tourism shall not apply for the
entrepreneurs keeping hotels, restaurants or family hotels from the day of promulgation of this law until
October 1, 2002.
§ 6. The following amendments and supplements are introduced to the Law for the local taxes and fees
(Prom. SG 117 1997; Amend. and Suppl. SG 71 1998; Amend. SG 83 1998; Amend. and Suppl. SG 105
1998; Amend. and Suppl. SG 153 1998; Amend. SG 103 1999; Amend. and Suppl. SG 34 2000;
Amend. and Suppl. SG 102 2000; Amend. and Suppl. SG 109 2001; Amend., SG 28 2002; Amend. SG
28 2002; Amend. and Suppl., SG 45 2002):
1. In art. 1:
a) the previous text becomes para 1 and in item 2 letter "d" is revoked;
b) para 2 is created:
"(2) Local fee is the tourist fee paid to the municipal fund for development of tourism."
2. In chapter three section IV is amended as follows:
"Section IV
Tourist fee
Art. 93. (1) The fee shall be paid for using shelter and a place for accommodation in the context of the
Law for the tourism.
(2) The revenue from the tourist fee shall be paid to the municipal fund for development of tourism.
Art. 93a. (1) The size of the fee shall be determined by a decision of the municipal council not later than
June 30 of the preceding year.
(2) If the municipal council does not determine the fee by the deadline of para 1 effective for the next
year shall be the size of the fee in effect for the preceding year.
Art. 94. The fee shall be paid by every person using shelter or a place for accommodation,
simultaneously with the payment for the service.
Art. 95. (1) The persons under 18 years of age, women over 55 years of age and men over 60 years of
age shall pay tourist tax amounting to 50 percent of the fee for the respective municipality determined
by the municipal council.
(2) Registered for the persons under para 1 shall be the data certifying their respective quality.
Art. 96. The tourist fee shall be determined in amount not higher than one lev per person per day.
Art. 97. The fees shall be collected from individuals and corporate bodies conceding sites for spending
the night in the shelters and places of accommodation and shall be paid to the municipal fund for
development of tourism the by the 15th of the month following the month during which it has been
collected."
§ 7. In the Law for the municipal budgets (prom., SG 33/98; amend., SG 69/99, SG 9/01 - Decision No 2
of the Constitutional Court of 2001) in art. 6, para 2,item 2. letter "d" is amended as follows:
"d) using a place of shelter or accommodation;".
§ 8. The state and municipal bodies having adopted or issued normative acts containing classification of
kinds of places of accommodation, shelter and food and entertainment establishments shall be obliged,
within a period of one year from the enactment of the law, to introduce the changes ensuing from it.
§ 9. (1) The ordinance under art. 18, para 1, art. 42, para 5, art. 55, para 3, the tariffs under art. 18, para 2
and art. 55, para 4, the structural regulations of the Executive Agency for national tourist advertising and
information shall be adopted by the Council of Ministers at the time of enactment of the law.
(2) The ordinance under art. 63 and the regulations for the personnel, organisation and activity of the
National Council of Tourism according to art. 8 shall be issued by the Minister of Economy at the time
of enactment of the law.
(3) The ordinance under art. 50, para 6 shall be adopted by the managing board of the Bulgarian Tourist
Union and shall be approved by the Minister of Economy at the time of enactment of the law.
4) The structural regulations of the Commission for trade and defence of the consumers and ordinance
No 3 for protection of the consumers in indicating the prices of the commodities and services shall be
brought in compliance with this law at the time of its enactment.
§ 10. The implementation of the law is assigned to the Minister of Economy.
§ 11. Paragraph 6 regarding the amendments and supplements of the Law for the local taxes and fees
shall enter into force on January 1, 2003.
§ 12. The law shall enter into force on October 1, 2002 with exception of the provisions of art. 19, para
3, art. 23, para 1, item 2, art. 28, item 10, art. 30, para 3, item 15, art. 42, para 1, 2, 3 and 4, art. 61, para
1, item 1, letter "i", art. 65, para 3, item 2 and art. 82 which shall enter into force on January 1, 2003.
REFERENCE
https://www.myanmar-responsiblebusiness.org/pdf/SWIA/Tourism/04-Government-Legal-Regulatory-
Framework.pdf
http://www.ajhtl.com/uploads/7/1/6/3/7163688/2016_article_9_vol_5__2_.pdf
