Kenya: unlicensed Mara lodges closed

Kenyan government has shut down a number of safari lodges and camps in the wider Masai Mara area which were operating without licenses. More investigations are also underway into properties under construction to establish that they, too, have all relevant licenses, including clearance from National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), and these findings are likely to produce more action against offenders.

The Masai Mara is one of Kenya’s best known tourism attractions and forms the extension into Kenya of the Tanzanian Serengeti National Park, and the annual migration of the wildebeest and zebras moves between the two parks every year, when the big herds follow the rains to find fresh pastures.

Source: eTurboNews, find article here>>.

Austria: city trips offered in conncetion with a student exchange programme do not constitute a "package"

Defandant, an Austrian association organising international student exchanges including free accomodation with host families, was offering a 6 day city trip to New York for students participating in the exchange programme in the U.S. and a 3 day city trip to London for students participating in the exchange programme in U.K. The trips included accomodation, sightseeing and recreational activities as well as workshops to prepare the students for their stay in the respective country. The trips were offered at fair market value. Defandant also offered flight tickets in connection with said trips.

Plaintiff, an Austrian association to combat unfair competition, filed a law suit requiring defendant to cease and desist from

• pursuing travel business in connection with international student exchanges by offering city trips of several days duration, including transportation, accomodation and other tourist services (sightseeing) beyond the period of school attendance or stay with host families at an inclusive price and thus organising packages without tour organiser licence and/or insolvency coverage and/or
• pursuing travel business in connection with international student exchanges without travel agency licence by providing flight tickets from/to Austria and/or within country of destination.

Court of first instance (Handelsgericht Wien) and court of appeal (Oberlandesgericht Wien) both granted the claim.

Upon further appeal by defendant, Austrian Supreme Court (OGH)

• revised the judgements and dismissed the claim in regard to package tours
  
• repealed the judgements remanding the case to the court of first instance in regard to flight tickets.

Supreme court referred to ECJ judgement C-237/97 - AFS in which ECJ had held that Council Directive 90/314/EEC of 13 June 1990 on package travel, package holidays and package tours did not apply to travel

• comprising student exchanges of about six months' or a year's duration;
• the purpose of which is attendance by the student at an educational establishment in the host country in order to familiarise himself with its people and culture; and
• during which the student stays with a host family as if he were a member thereof free of charge.

The city trips offered could not be regarded in isolation from the exchange programmes as they were not offered separately but only in connection with same. As the trips also served the purpose to prepare the students for their stay in the host country and the style of living there, neither the exchange programmes themselves nor the city trips as parts of these programmes could be regarded "packages" in the meaning of Dir. 90/314/EEC.

Concerning the flight tickets, Supreme Court considered defendants objection that the tickets were organised and issued by a licenced travel agent. As there were no findings on who really organised and issued the tickets, in further proceedings court of first instance will have to take evidence in this regard. If it turned out that they were indeed organised and issued by a licenced travel agent, defendant could have a strong argument to have acted based on a justifyable legal opinion.

Full text of judgement 4 Ob 70/09m of Nov. 19, 2009 available in German here>>.

Austria: reference for preliminray ruling in regard to the operation of a city tours coach service

The applicant company applied for a business permit to run a city tours coach service from fixed stopping points in accordance with a fixed time table. Municipality of Vienna at first instance denied the permit on the grounds that the service would economically endanger a competing company running a similar service and applicant had no registered office in Austria.

Upon appeal of the applicant, the "Unabhängiger Verwaltungssenat Wien" filed a reference for premliminary ruling to the ECJ, asking

1) whether it was compatible with the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services within the meaning of Article 49 et seq. EC and with EU competition law for the purposes of Article 81 et seq. EC for a provision of national law relating to the grant of authorisation to operate a motor vehicle service, and thus to provide public transport, where fixed stopping points are called at regularly in accordance with a timetable, to lay down the following as conditions for such authorisation:

• that the EU undertaking making the application must already have a registered office or a branch in the State of the authorising authority before commencing operation of the service and in particular at the time the licence is granted;
• that the EU undertaking making the application must already have a registered office or a branch in the State of the authorising authority at the latest from the time operation of the service commences?

2) whether it was compatible with the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services within the meaning of Article 49 et seq. EC and with EU competition law for the purposes of Article 81 et seq. EC for a provision of national law relating to the grant of authorisation to operate a motor vehicle service, and thus to provide public transport where fixed stops are called at regularly in accordance with a timetable, to provide that authorisation is to be refused where, if the motor vehicle service applied for commences, the revenues of a competing undertaking running on a partially or entirely identical short route will be so substantially reduced by this service that the continued running of the service operated by the competing undertaking will no longer be economically viable?

Given ECJ's established jurisdiction, I wonder how there can be doubt that the requirement of a registred office in Austria infringes freedom of services.

The refrence for preliminary ruling (case C-338/09 - Yellow Cab) is available for download here>>.

Kenya: New regulatory regime for hospitality sector

To ensure quality and compliance with relevant other laws and regulations and promoting excellence in the hospitality sector, all new hotel, resort, and lodge projects in Kenya require to be licensed first, before commencing any construction, by a newly-inaugurated Hotel and Restaurant Authority.

The authority will also embark on a nationwide exercise of grading and classification, using the East African Community regulatory regime now in place for all the five member states.

Source: eTurboNews; find article here>>.

Ireland: Non-extension of compulsory licensing to internet sites

The Irish state regulator for tour operators and travel agents has advised the Irish government against extending the statutory compulsory licensing and bonding scheme to internet sellers of travel services.

Report available at http://www.transport.ie/viewitem.asp?id=11263&lang=ENG&loc=432

Reported to IFTTA by Marc Mc Donald

Namibia: new Tourism Bill on the way

The Namibia Tourism Board (NTB), a statutory body to regulate and market the tourism industry established by an Act of Parliament (Act 21 of 2000), has introduced a number amendments to the Namibian Tourism Board Act, 2000 ( Act no. 21 of 2000), key elements of which are
• Fostering of corporate governance by introducing fiduciary duties and responsibilities of the
Board, as well as stipulating Audit Committee and Remuneration Committee as two standing
committees of the Board;
• disciplinary procedures for operators that are involved in unethical business conduct to
safeguard the tourists;
• enhancements of Levy section to allow the Board to appoint auditors to audit books of the
registered clients to ensure that proper levies are being declared to NTB, as at present
operators, currently required by the ACT, (i.e. accommodation businesses), proved beyond
reasonable doubt not to declare correct levy amount to NTB so is the tax to the Inland
Revenue;
• assigning Peace Officer powers to the Tourism inspectors to grant spot fines;
• allowing Board to recruit other staff on part‐time basis to expand inspectorate staff, which
will be cheaper option in the long run;
• provision of Licensed person that will pave the way for licensing of Tour Guides, and
• Introduction of annual renewal fees to increase NTB’s budget income.

Source: NTB; Background report and text of bill available for download here>>.

Florida: law on Cuba travel bond blocked by federal judge

A group of travel agents in Florida sued the state over a new law requiring agents who book trips to Cuba to post a USD 250,000 bond and disclose their clients' names. Earlier this month, a federal judge lifted the measure temporarily to consider the law's legality.
Before the measure was signed into law in June all travel agencies were required to pay the state a one-time USD 25,000 bond.
Despite the recent ruling, the legal battle between the travel agents and Florida lawmakers is not over: Some legal experts say the law oversteps the bounds of state authority.

Source: New York Times; find article here>>.

USA: Rhode Island repealed agency licensing and bonding law

Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri signed a bill on Friday repealing the state’s 32-year-old travel agency licensing and bonding law. It had been the first state law in the U.S. to require either agency licensing or bonding. The law was repealed to save money at the state level and because there are now so few agents to regulate in the smallest U.S. state.

Source: Travel Weekly; full article here>>.

UK: CAA reminds travel industry of consumer protection in air package sale

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has today written to more than 100 travel businesses in the UK that it believes may be continuing to sell air packages without the protection of an Air Travel Organisers’ Licence (ATOL).
In January this year, the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) issued guidance on what constitutes a package for the purposes of the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992. This guidance was prepared in conjunction with other interested UK government departments and was supported by the main travel trade associations in the UK.
Since the publication of the guidance, the CAA, which administers the ATOL)protection scheme, has been in discussion with both current licence holders and large travel companies that it believes need to hold an ATOL in accordance with the terms of the new guidance. As a result, there has been an increase of more than 400,000 protected seats added to ATOL licences.
In addition, the CAA has continued to investigate other travel firms that may need an ATOL and the letter, which is being sent to them today, sets out the legal position and invites them to apply for a licence. Further information about ATOL is available on the ATOL website at www.atol.org.uk.

Source: CAA; full article here>>.