REVISION OF THE PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE CROATIAN TOURISM LAW

The paper explores normative substance of the new Package Travel Directive (2015/2302/EU) and its influence on the Croatian Tourism Law. The new Directive was adopted on 25 November 2015, European Union Member States had to transpose it by 1 January 2018 and it is applicable from 1 July 2018. Internet as increasingly important medium for travel services resulted in surge of various forms of customized travel arrangements and rendered provisions of the old Directive obsolete to the needs modern tourist market. Although 23% of EU travellers still purchase traditional, pre-arranged packages, more and more either buy different parts of their trips separately or buy customized holidays, which are put together by one or more commercially linked traders to suit their needs and preferences. Vast majority of travellers buying packages and linked travel arrangements are consumers within the meaning of the EU Consumer Protection Law. Thus, new Package Travel Directive should result in the enhancement of the consumer protection. New legislation will extend protection of the of the 1990 EU Package Travel Directive to cover not only traditional package holidays, but also give clear protection to 120 million consumers who book other forms of combined travel. Scope of the new Package Travel Directive is substantially wider than the scope of the old Directive. The new Package Travel Directive applies to packages offered for sale or sold by traders to travellers and to linked travel arrangements facilitated by traders for travellers. The new Directive broadens the concept of package and now will apply to different sorts of travel combinations: pre-arranged packages; customised packages and linked travel arrangements. This paper elaborates on normative and substantive influence of the new Directive in Croatian Tourism Law. Following comparative legal overview current Croatian legislation of package travel including applicable sections of the Civil Obligations Act will be inspected