Chapter 14Consumer protectionProtection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 for
false and misleading statements.
3 Administrative controls.One of the consequences of
cut-throat price competition in the travel industry has
been a high rate of company failures because of insol-
vency. The problem for the consumer is that they may
find themselves stranded abroad. Administrative con-
trols have, therefore, tended to concentrate on putting
in place arrangements to safeguard holidaymakers in the
event of the tour operator becoming insolvent. The Civil
Aviation Authority (CAA), for example, required any-
one organising inclusive holidays involving air travel to
obtain an Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (ATOL). Such
operators were required to satisfy financial requirements
and to provide a bond to cover liabilities, which may
arise from insolvency. An Air Travel Reserve Fund was
set up as an additional precaution.
4 Business self-regulation.The Association of British
Travel Agents (ABTA) was set up in 1951 and, despite its
name, represents the interests of both travel agents and
tour operators. All ABTA members are bound by the
codes of practice: the Tour Operator’s Code of Conduct
and the Travel Agent’s Code of Conduct.
The fragmented nature of the controls over the
package holiday industry, the high level of consumer
dissatisfaction and the obvious European dimension
to the industry made this form of consumer transaction
a natural target for EC legislation. The EC Directive on
Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours
was adopted by the EC Council in 1990. Member states
were required to implement the measure by 31 Decem-
ber 1992. The directive was given effect in the UK by the
Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours
Regulations 1992, which came into force on 23 Decem-
ber 1992.
The Package Travel, Package
Holidays and Package Tours
Regulations 1992
The main provisions of the regulations (SI 1992/3288)
as they affect consumers are as follows:
1 Package.The regulations do not apply to travel or
accommodation, which are separately arranged. The
regulations apply only to ‘packages’ which are sold or
offered for sale in the UK. The definition of a ‘package’
requires the existence of the following elements:
■a pre-arranged combination of at least two or more
specified components which are: (i) transport; (ii) ac-
commodation; (iii) other tourist services not ancillary
to transport or accommodation, but which account
for a significant proportion of the package;
■the combination is sold or offered for sale at an inclus-
ive price;
■the service covers a period of 24 hours or more or
includes overnight accommodation.
2 The parties. The regulations use the terms ‘organiser’
and ‘retailer’ to describe the tour operator and travel
agent respectively. The ‘consumer’ is given a broad defini-
tion so as to include not only the person who makes the
contract for the package but also anyone else on whose
behalf he has contracted, i.e. members of a family or
someone to whom the contracting person has trans-
ferred the package.
3 Misleading information.Regulation 4 provides
that a consumer is entitled to be compensated by the
organiser or retailer for any loss arising from misleading
information about the package, its price or any other
conditions applying to the contract.413
Mawdsleyv Cosmosair Plc(2002)Mr and Mrs Mawdsley booked a full board package
holiday in Turkey with Cosmos for themselves and their
two young children, J and C, aged three-and-a-half and
six months respectively. The Cosmos brochure included
the following entry for the hotel chosen by the Mawdsleys
under the heading ‘Facilities’: ‘Lift (in main building)’.
There was a lift in the main building but it did not stop at
the floor where the restaurant was located. Mrs Mawdsley
was injured while trying with her husband to carry their
daughter C in her pushchair down the stairs to the re-
staurant. Mrs Mawdsley lost her footing, slipped and fell.
The Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the trial judge
that the statement ‘Lift (in main building)’ amounted to a
misrepresentation that all levels of the hotel were access-
ible by lift and that it was reasonable to assume that the
restaurant was in the main building and therefore also
accessible by lift. The misrepresentation constituted ‘mis-
leading information’ under reg 4 of the Package Travel
Regulations. In the absence of a novus actus interveniens,
Cosmos was liable for Mrs Mawdsley’s injuries.4 Provision of information.The regulations set out
what information must be given to consumers in bro-
chures and before the package starts: