Consumer protection legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers

Consumer protection law:

The consumer protection is a legislation that deals with misleading or false statements. The false and misleading statements may be made in relation to holidays, travel arrangements and prices. The consumer protection law is very important which means that if any of the legislations are breached it will lead to penalties which could be fines or a prison sentence.

 Organisations within the travel and tourism sector will need to ensure that the statements and information that they provide to their customers are not false or misleading. By making false statements or misleading customers the organisation that is providing the false statements will be punished for breaching the legislation. It is important that all information is accurate and reliable so that there is no misunderstanding as the consequences may be high for the provider who provides false or misleading statements. An example of misleading statements can be false prices for holidays. If this is the case that a tour operator has been misleading customers with false prices it would mean that they are breaching the legislation.

Uberrimae Fidei:

Uberrimae Findei is a Latin phrase which has the meaning of “utmost good faith”.  This phrase is commonly used during insurance contracts. It is used in insurance contracts as it states that all parties within the insurance contract must act in good faith.  This is so that the parties involved will make a full declaration of all material facts in the insurance proposal.

Dealing in good faith can be used in other contracts as well. If organisations such as tour operators use good faith it means that they will provide all the information truly based on what they will offer the customer in the holiday package. This will also help to prevent misleading and false information to the customer.

Trade description act 1968:

The trade discrimination act 1968 is an important act for customers and people who have suffered from misleading descriptions. The trade discrimination act imposes penalties for giving false statements to customers. Penalties are given to the tour operators or any other industry in all organisations when they know that they are misleading their customers by knowing that they are providing the customers with false information whilst they are acting recklessly.

In the tourism industry it is important that no false information is provided to the customer. If the airline or travel agent provides a consumer with false information about accommodation that they have described as a five star hotel but instead the hotel is a 3 star hotel it will mean that they are misleading their customers. This will be against the trade description act 1968 and the holiday provider will be fined or prosecuted.

The only way in which the travel agent or airline will be able to defend themselves is by proving that it was a mistake and that they were not trying to mislead the customer.  The defendants can also claim that it was an accident. The penalties and compensation for each offense are £2000.00 or an unlimited fine and a prison sentence.

Consumer protection act 1987

The consumer protection act 1987 prohibits misleading price indications to customers. This includes the misleading to the price of all goods, services facilities and accommodations. The way in which prices can be misleading is if the price is more than the price given. This means that if a consumer has to pay more than what the price is actually set at then the consumer protection act is being breached and it will lead to consequences for the travel agent.   

In order for defences to be put forward there will need to be proof of the pricing list. This means that the industries that mislead the customer will need to prove that the price was not an advertisement but that the price can also be found in a brochure or pricing book. The fines and penalties for breaching the consumer protection act 1987 can be unlimited depending on the situation.

Sources:

http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/U/UberrimaeFidei.aspx

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1987/43

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/29

http://www.sqa.org.uk/e-learning/ITLaw01CD/page_12.htm