Ordinance no. 2020-315 of 25 March 2020 (Ordonnance Contrats de Voyages et Séjours – Ordinance on tourist travel contracts and holiday package contracts) amends the obligations of tourism professionals, organisers or retailers, in order to allow them to offer their customers, for a given and limited period of time (after 1 March 2020 and before 15 September 2020 included), an identical or equivalent package to replace their cancelled trip, or a credit they can use in the next 18 months.

TOURIST TRAVEL CONTRACTS AND HOLIDAY PACKAGE CONTRACTS CONCERNED

The following contracts, whose cancellation is notified between 1 March 2020 and before 15 September 2020 included, are concerned:

• tourist travel contracts and holiday package contracts sold by organisers or retailers;
• contracts related to accommodation services, private car rental services or any other tourist services sold by natural or legal persons, or associations, providing themselves such services.

Sales of travel tickets, regulated by international law and European Union legislation on passenger rights, are excluded.

PROPOSED MECHANISM

As an alternative to the full reimbursement of the payments already made, the organiser or the retailer can instead offer the customer a credit to be used in the following conditions:

The amount of the credit must be equal to the full amount of payments made under  f the cancelled contract.

This credit is valid for a period of 18 months.

The customer must be informed on a durable medium, at the latest within thirty days following the cancellation of the contract, or, if the contract was cancelled before the Ordinance entered into force, at the latest within thirty days following its entry into force.

The customer cannot request the full reimbursement of the payments made during the credit’s period of validity.

In order for the customer to make use of the credit, the organiser or retailer must offer him/her a travel or holiday package contract that meets the following conditions:

The service must be identical or equivalent to the one initially booked.

The price of the service cannot be higher than that of the one initially booked.

The service cannot give rise to any price increase other than what was provided for in the cancelled contract, as the case may be.

The new service must be offered at the latest within three months following notification of the contract’s cancellation and this offer remains valid for a period of 18 months.

If the customer does not use this new service offer within the 18-month period, he/she will be reimbursed the full price of the payments made under the cancelled contract. If part of the credit has been used, then the remaining amount shall be fully refunded after expiry of the 18-month period.

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Gide's Competition & International Trade practice group is available to answer any questions you may have in this respect. You may also get in touch with your usual contact at the firm.

This legal update is not intended to be and should not be construed as providing legal advice. The addressee is solely liable for any use of the information contained herein and the Law Firm shall not be held responsible for any damages, direct, indirect or otherwise, arising from the use of the information by the addressee.

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