Legislation and Ethics in Travel and Tourism Sector: Legal and Regulatory Framework

Legislation and Ethics
in Travel and Tourism
Sector

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Explain the legal and regulatory framework of travel and tourism sector............................1
1.2 Discuss surface, sea and air transport law in relation to carriage of passengers...................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
2.1 Evaluate the impact of principles of health, safety and security legislation.........................3
2.2 Analyse legislation that relates to equality............................................................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
3.1 Explain contract legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers..............................5
3.2 Explain consumer protection legislations in context of travel and tourism consumers........5
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................6
4.1 Analyse ethical dilemmas faced by travel and tourism sector..............................................6
4.2 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy of a specified travel and tourism business. .7
CONLUSION..................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Travel and tourism sector provides services to people travelling from one destination to
another for personal or business purpose. It is a revenue generating industry in any country
which covers all hotels, motels, lodges, restaurants, banquet hall, conference hall and many more
(Swarbrooke and Horner, 2012). Since, the scope is so wide, it needs legislations and ethics to
govern the activities of organizations operating in this. These ensure the safety, security and
protection to people providing as well as availing the services. Furthermore, business ethics
helps entities act in an ethical manner. In this report, Thomas Cook has been chosen which has
headquarters at London, England, United Kingdom. Along with this, explanation of applicable
laws, evaluation of impact of principles of health, safety and security, discussion of legislation of
contract and consumer protection, ethical dilemmas and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
of a particular travel and tourism business company.
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TASK 1
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1.1 Explain the legal and regulatory framework of travel and tourism sector
Travel and tourism sector is regulated by Association of British Travel Agents who has
the responsibility to manage the working of organizations carrying their businesses in this field.
In addition to this, there are number of laws and regulatory framework for the safety of tourists
and customers. These have been elaborated below:
Health and Safety Executive (HSE): It is an agency operating under UK government
which has duties for enforcement, regulation and encouragement of health, safety and welfare at
workplaces. It makes it compulsory for organizations to take care of employees as well as
customers by complying with safety standards (Health and Safety Executive, 2019).
Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA): It is a UK travel trade association which
has different functions such as formulating standards in industry, issue guidance for health and
safety, to represent the industry in front of government.
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA): It is a statutory corporation which has duty to supervise
and regulate all areas and complete working of civil aviation throughout UK. It has been
assigned different functions for managing British Aviation industry.
Air Travel Operators' Licensing (ATOL): The main purpose of this scheme is to provide
financial protection to the individuals who have purchased package holidays and flights from a
member tour operator. Every individual under this is required to hold a license in order to
complete transactions.
Health and Safety Commission (HSC): It is a non-departmental public body constituted
under Health and Safety at Work etc. Act, 1974. It was established to assist people that are
connected with operation of HSWA, provide training and information to the worker for carrying
the activities effectively (Health and Safety Commission, 2019).
International Air Transport Association (IATA): It is a trade association of different
airlines belonging to variety of nations. It provides standards and policies which the airlines are
required to abide by.
Civil law: The legal provisions are meant to provide equality to every person living in
UK as well as a foreigner. Also, contracts are formed between the individual and entities in
order to protect the person against any breach.
Criminal law: The criminal laws are for the protection of rights and duties of tourists
and tour operators for maintaining fairness in the acts. Furthermore, there are fines and
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punishments in case of any breach.
1.2 Discuss surface, sea and air transport law in relation to carriage of passengers
Modes of transport are used for travelling from one place to another. A person can move
through surface, sea or by air. Therefore, it becomes imperative to maintain safety of people on
board. These are different in nature and governed by number of legislations which have been
explained as follows:
Carriage by Air and Road Act, 1979: This act has been enacted to maintain the safety of
people travelling on broad. It help in preventing damages by following safety regulations.
According to this Act, every transport should have safety measures for treating every passenger
equally and to avoid situation of accidents or loss of luggage. Apart from this, there are rights
which should be known to the passengers in the situations of physical, mental disorder during
loading or unloading luggage or even at the time of boarding or de boarding (Carriage by Air
and Road Act, 1979, 2019).
Athens Convention, 1974: The main purpose to form this convention is to regulate ships,
vessels and cargos which travel on the sea. It provides that passengers and luggage should be
protected and given safety in order to save it from loss or damages. There should not be any
physical or mental harm which may occur at the time of loading or unloading. If there happens
an event of loss, then the owner will be held liable for the same. It provides that passengers
should be given the best services by providing best coaches.
Carriage by Railway Act, 1972: This act is related with carriages and passengers
accompanied with luggage at international level. It obliges the carrier to pay to a passenger in
case of damage to the belongings.
Warsaw Convention, 1929: This convention is created by global community of air
transport with an aim to provide global standards for carrying passengers across the globe. It is
also related to liability for passengers and goods in case of accident, loss of baggage and delay.
Furthermore, it intends to reduce costs to all the airlines (Warsaw Convention, 1929, 2019).
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TASK 2
2.1 Evaluate the impact of principles of health, safety and security legislation
Health and Safety Act, 1974 has been implemented in travel and tourism industry with a
view to provide protection to employees and other people within the boundaries of a particular
location (Buckley, 2012). The other individuals include employees, visitors, service providers
and many other. In addition to this, it states the duty of employer is to make sure good and
friendly environment at workplace and to have safety measures in consistent with safety
regulations. Airlines operating under aviation industry should have all the safety measures as
given by the authorities responsible for maintaining managing their activities. People working in
aviation industry often face critical circumstances in case of failure to meet the requirements.
Health, safety and security are important in travel and tourism sector as it involves
different people who travel from one place to another. There are certain principles which
provides that every hotel, motel, lodge etc. should have good ambience with all equipment’s
which are capable of preventing critical situations and ensure the safety of every individual
inside the premises. The knowledge about this can be provided by the management of Thomas
Cook through proper training due to which safety and security can be increased. Furthermore,
this is not the responsibility of a single person hence, people at different hierarchies should be
equally responsible to comply with regulations of safety and security of people. Also, with the
training, the staff can become competent to handle extreme situations and emergencies (Archer
and Syratt, 2012).
There is one more act which is Occupier's Liability Act, 1984, this act provides that the
occupier should undertakes safety precautions and maintenance of premises to ensure safety of
visitors. Thomas Cook should understand and consider this act, as it also provides that security
should be given to all the individuals irrespective of time duration to stay at the accommodation.
Further, there should not be any breach of regulations related with health and safety. There is a
liability of occupier towards its workforce, customers and other parties.
2.2 Analyse legislation that relates to equality
Equality is an important element in a workplace wherein the employees should be treated
equally without being discriminated on any factor. UK government has passed legislations to
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ensure equal opportunities are provided to employees as well as the tourists while providing
services. There are number of laws which have been analysed below:
Disability Discrimination Act, 1955: As per this act, there should be any discrimination
of person on the basis of disability. Physically challenged people should be given opportunities
which are provided to an able person (Disability Discrimination Act, 1955, 2019). No person
should be promoted or demoted due to disability and employer should give fair chance to every
individual to perform up to the standard.
Sex Discrimination Act, 1975: This act is about preventing discrimination on the basis of
gender. Currently, there are three categories based on sex viz. Men, women and transgender.
This act provides that none of the person belonging to these types should be denied or given
extra opportunity on this basis. There should be equality for every person and no comparison
should be made on gender.
Employment Protection Act, 1975: This act emphasizes on creating, maintaining and
promoting good and healthy relations with employees and to protect their employment rights.
Every personnel have certain rights related to leaves, pay, working hours, and many more which
cannot be denied by the employer on any ground unless valid. Furthermore, there is an
employment contract which is executed between the employer and employee and all the
activities should be conducted according to terms and conditions mentioned in this. Also, there
should be clear duties and responsibilities so as to avoid any confusion or conflict at later date.
Employment Act, 2002: According to this act, paternity, maternity and adoption leave and
pay along with tribunal system have been provided which can be used by employees. These are
the basic rights of an employee and can be availed whenever required. Also, in the matter of
disputes, Employment Tribunal should be approached for getting conclusion on the case
(Employment Act, 2002, 2019).
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TASK 3
TASK 4
7

4.1 Analyse ethical dilemmas faced by travel and tourism sector
Ethical dilemma refers to a moral situation in which a choice has to be made between
two equally undesirable alternatives. It may be occur due behaviour, attitudes etc. The
complexity level in these problems is high which should be resolved through optimal solution.
Travel and tourism sector comprises of restaurants, hotels and many others in the same line
which provide services to a large number of clients. In such a case, it is obvious to face ethical
dilemmas which may hinder the working of activities (Shapiro and Stefkovich, 2016). Thomas
Cook may face an ethical dilemma regarding green issues. The objective of this company is to
make profit, but it should contribute to the society in which it is operating and using the
resources. Hence, this is likely to reduce the profit also betterment of society cannot be avoided.
Apart from this, employment ethics can contribute to ethical dilemma wherein an employee has
been harassed or abused. In this situation, discrimination can be seen on the basis of gender.
Furthermore, other problems may be experienced by tourists is being discriminated on the basis
of nationality, colour and skin. These are the common issues which create an uneasy
environment. Apart from this, there are number of factors such as language, change in social
values, natural resources etc. These are creating ethical dilemmas for the entities carrying their
business in this industry. The staff of the hotel or other place within hospitality industry should
make common provisions for all the tourists so as to avoid any ethical dilemma.
Ethical dilemmas can be avoided by following ethical theories which provide directions to a
person or organizations. For example, it can use utilitarian theory which states that an action is
considered good when it creates benefits for maximum people. Apart from this, there are other
theories as well related to reconciling business life with moral values. In this employees can be
taught to understand and respect moral values of others. This can help curbing the problem of
employment ethics.
4.2 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy of a specified travel and tourism business
Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave
ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the
workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large. It is an
initiative to make the companies accountable in order to make it sustainable and ethical. It has
purpose to make it compulsory to contribute certain percentage of its profit for the betterment of
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society (JAIN, 2013). Therefore, every organization should have a social welfare framework for
contributing to the activities. This helps an organization in becoming socially accepted which
set example for other entities to include these activities in business. It is a part of corporate
governance which provides that every company should comply with laws and regulations
applicable on it.
Thomas Cook is concerned about the nature and environment and has formed CSR
strategy which focus on number of items such as reducing single use plastic items, recycle
plastic and similar perspective. It makes initiatives to raise the awareness about this issue
among large number of people across different locations in the world. It has formed
collaborations with different entities in order to create new resources through recycling.
Furthermore, it emphasized on disposing off waste in an environmental friendly manner. All
these is going to reduce level of pollution in the atmosphere and make the soil more fertile.
However, these goals have not yet been completely achieved and Thomas Cook is working
really hard to accomplish these objectives expeditiously. Along with this, stakeholder has also
been included in deciding the aims of CSR. This has helped increasing their participation in the
business (Servaes and Tamayo, 2013).
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been concluded that legislation and regulatory framework
are important in travel and tourism sector for governing the activities of entities. It has huge
scope which covers different types of organizations providing services to people availing the
services. This report has discussed that safety and security are essential which should be
provided to employees, tourists as well as trespassers. This helps in attracting new customers as
well as business partners. For this purpose, number of enactments have been made by the
parliament to ensure the legality of every act. These provide legal backup to every organizations
operating in this industry. Apart from this, CSR and ethical dilemmas are also explained to show
their working and impact upon a business. It is useful in making the company more desirable and
acceptable in the society.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals:
Swarbrooke, J. and Horner, S., 2012. Business travel and tourism. Routledge.
Buckley, R., 2012. Sustainable tourism: Research and reality. Annals of tourism research. 39(2).
pp.528-546.
Archer, J. and Syratt, G., 2012. Manual of travel agency practice. Routledge.
Grant and Mason, 2012. Holiday Law: The Law Relating to Travel and Tourism, 5th Ed.,
London, Sweet and Maxwell
Mekinc, J. and Cvikl, H., 2013. The Structure of Security and Safety Crises in Tourism. Journal
of Tourism & Services. 4.
Fried, C., 2015. Contract as promise: A theory of contractual obligation. Oxford University
Press, USA.
Howells, G. and Weatherill, S., 2017. Consumer protection law. Routledge.
Shapiro, J.P. and Stefkovich, J.A., 2016. Ethical leadership and decision making in education:
Applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas. Routledge.
JAIN, L., 2013. Corporate social responsibility.
Servaes, H. and Tamayo, A., 2013. The impact of corporate social responsibility on firm value:
The role of customer awareness. Management science. 59(5). pp.1045-1061.
Online:
Health and Safety Executive. 2019. [Online]. Available through :<https://www.hse.gov.uk/>.
Health and Safety Commission. 2019. [Online]. Available through
:<http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/reports/0304/ar0304p01.pdf>.
Carriage by Air and Road Act, 1979. 2019. [Online]. Available through
:<https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/28/contents>.
Warsaw Convention, 1929. 2019. [Online]. Available through
:<https://www.icao.int/Pages/default.aspx>.
Disability Discrimination Act, 1955. 2019. [Online]. Available through
:<https://www.rnib.org.uk/information-everyday-living-your-rights/disability-
discrimination-act-dda>.
Employment Act, 2002. 2019. [Online]. Available through
:<https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/article/2002/employment-act-2002-
outlined>.
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