An Analysis of Consumer Protection in the Tourism Sector

This report delves into the crucial aspects of consumer protection within the tourism industry. It begins by establishing the historical context of tourism, highlighting its evolution from early travel practices to the modern era. The report then focuses on key legislations, including the Consumer Protection Act and the Trade Description Act, examining their roles in safeguarding consumer rights and preventing misleading practices. It analyzes the concept of 'Uberrimae Fidei' and its significance in ensuring fair business practices within the travel sector, particularly concerning insurance contracts. Furthermore, the report explores the Package Travel Regulations and their contribution to protecting consumers. The report emphasizes the penalties associated with violations of these regulations, underscoring the importance of ethical conduct and accurate information provision within the travel and tourism industry. The report's objective is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the legal framework that governs consumer protection in tourism, ensuring fair practices and safeguarding consumer rights.

In the early age, cultural aspects, learning languages and travelling challenges restricted (Capacci, Scorcu and Vici, 2015). In 14 century
Christopher Columbus sailed westward
and vasco da gama cruised to country for
earn money then business travel has been
integral part of tourism industry(Cave and
Brown 2012).
Early tourism started with Nomads who travelled around the world in search of
food and shelter. Main intension of this traveller is to gathered food and traded around the world and gave rise to the barter system (Capacci,
Scorcu and Vici, 2015). 1500 BC is marked as the era when the Europeans visited pyramids and thus developed the tourism for pilgrimage. Early
tourism started with Nomads who travelled around the world in search of food and shelter. Main intension of this traveller is to gathered food
and traded around the world and gave rise to the barter system (Capacci, Scorcu and Vici, 2015). 1500 BC is marked as the era when the
Europeans visited pyramids and thus developed the tourism for pilgrimage.
Travel and Tourism industry
Tour means the activity of travelling of travellers, where tourism includes all the activity which is
directly or indirectly related to operate the tour
3.2 Consumer protection in relation to tourism
The consumer protection act deals with misleading activities that the consumers are facing. The
false statement or misleading statements can be made against the tour holiday packages or travel
agreement and the pricing policy. The consumer protection law is very important because if any rules of the
legislations are broken it will lead to penalties in terms of fine or prison.
The travel and tourism department must ensure that the information they are providing to their
customer are true and no false claims are made to the customers. It is very important for the travel
departments to ensure that all the reliable information are passed to the customers are accurate and
reliable so that there is no false fact generated.( Goeldner and Ritchie 2012..)
Trade description act 1968:
 The trade description act which came into force from 1968 is an important act for the consumers and people who have suffered from the false and
misleading information. The trade description act impose penalties for the false statement to the customers. Penalties are imposed on the tour operator
or any other industry doing the false task by making them aware that they are cheating their customers by providing them false information. In travel industry if an tour operation has promised for the accommodation in 3 star hotels and if he back out from his words and he makes arrangement
Consumer protection act 1987:
 The consumer protection act of 1987 prohibits misleading prices to the customers. This
in context to the travel industry relates with the facilities and accommodation of the
customers according to the prices charged. The way in which prices are charged from
the customers can be misleading in that the tour operator charged higher prices for
luxurious facilities but in return he did not fulfil his promised and this leads to breach of
the contract and leads to consequences for the travel department.(Hall 2013.) The fine
and the penalties under the consumer protection act will ultimately depend upon the
situation of the activity.
 Package Travel Regulations: The package travel regulations are made to protect the
Uberrimae Fidei: It is a Latin word which means
utmost good faith. This phase is widely used during
insurance contracts which states that the contract
of insurance must act in good faith. This is done
because all the parties which are involved in the
insurance can make decisions of the fact and
materials listed in the insurance act. Dealing in
good faith can also be used by Thomas Cook Group
by the means that they will provide true