Legal and Regulatory Framework Impact on Travel and Tourism Sector

This report provides a detailed analysis of the legal and regulatory framework impacting the travel and tourism sector in the United Kingdom. It covers various aspects, including the legal and regulatory frameworks, transport laws (surface, sea, and air), health, safety, and security legislation, and equality legislation. The report also evaluates ethical dilemmas, corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies, contract legislation, and consumer protection legislation within the context of the travel and tourism industry, with a focus on a UK tour operator and travel agency. The report delves into relevant acts, such as the Airport Act 1986, Data Protection Act 2018, Health and Safety Act 1974, and the Equality Act 2010, to provide a comprehensive understanding of the legal and ethical considerations that govern the industry. The report emphasizes the importance of compliance with these regulations to ensure customer safety, security, and fair treatment, alongside the ethical responsibilities of businesses in the sector.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................3
1.1– Explain the legal and regulatory framework of the travel and tourism sector with
reference to England and Wales..................................................................................................3
1.2 Discuss surface, sea and air transport law in relation to the carriage of passengers within
the legal and regulatory framework of the United Kingdom.......................................................7
Task 2.............................................................................................................................................10
Introduction................................................................................................................................10
2.1 Evaluate the impacts of the principles of health, safety and security legislation on the
travel and tourism sector with reference to a UK tour operator and travel agency...................10
2.2 Analyze legislation that relates to equality with reference to a UK tour operator and travel
agency........................................................................................................................................11
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................13
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................14
3.1 Explain contract legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers.............................14
3.2 Explain consumer protection legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers.........15
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................18
Introduction................................................................................................................................18
4.1 Analyze ethical dilemmas faced by the travel and tourism sector.......................................18
4.2 analyze the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy of a specified travel and tourism
business......................................................................................................................................20
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................21
References:....................................................................................................................................22
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Introduction
The laws and legislation of the United Kingdom have several impacts on the travel and tourism
sector of the United Kingdom and the organizations under this sector needs to felicitate these
laws and legislation. This laws and legislation give guidelines and code of conduct of business
for the business organization under this sector. The first task of this assignment is to understand
the laws and legislation which the organization needs to follow under this travel and tourism
sector. The second portion refers to the safety, health, data protection, and security. The third
part of this assignment refers to the development of leaflets consisting of contract law and
consumer protection law. The fourth task of this assignment is to produce a report which consists
CSR and ethics of travel and tourism industry. Thomas Cook is an organization which comes
under the travel and tourism industry.
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Task 1
1.1– Explain the legal and regulatory framework of the travel and tourism sector with
reference to England and Wales
Poster Introduction: Legal framework basically refers to outlines for specific laws and the
system of the court which control the entire system of the country. Whereas regulatory
framework refers to the comprised of various organizations that are responsible for enforcing the
laws (Fertilisation and Authority, 2016). The Scottish system, The English system, and the
Northern Ireland system are the three different class distinctions of the legal system of the United
Kingdom. The laws of the English legal system designed under the British constitution. England
and Wales come under this English legal system. The laws and regulations of tour and travel
industry come under this system.
The legal framework of England and Wales:
There are various laws which the travel and tourism sector of UK and Wales must need to ensure
as a part of the English system.
1. Airport Act 1986: this Act refers to the economic regulations for the airport authorities.
Instance ticket fair, security of the airport comes under this act.
2. Transport act 1980/1985: This act refers to the controlling the transport system. Private
and public buses come under this act.
3. Road act 1974: This act refers to the regulations for passenger’s carriage.
4. Tourism Act 1969: British tourism authority first proposed this act, and it refers to the
regulations of tourism activities.
5. Data Protection Act 2018: This act refers to the data security of the customers of any
organization. Travel and tourism industry needs to follow this act (Carey, 2018).
6. Holiday Regulations 1992: This act refers to controlling packages travel and tour
operators and imposes regulations on their activities.
The court system: First instance and appellate the public and criminal law and the English legal
system are classified as private law. Crown court, high court, magistrate court, tribunals, country
court, and Supreme Court are five different courts of each class. Arbitration also a part of these
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classes and the main focus of arbitrations are on the settlement of the disputes through
negotiations. The jury member helps the main judge to give the order or the judgment.
Fig 1: Hierarchy of British courts
Source: (Carey, 2018)
Fig 2: The court structure of the English legal system
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Source: (Carey, 2018)
Regulatory framework: The following bodies are associated with the English legal system for
the regulatory framework of England and Wales.
International air transport association (IATA): This body monitors the economic regulation
on air companies.
Maritime and coast guard agencies (MCA): This body monitors the voyage using a water
body
Association of British travel agents (ABTA): This body associated with all the registered
travel agencies of the United Kingdom.
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA): This body monitors the airport's regulations in the United
Kingdom.
Office of Rail and Road Regulation (ORR): This body monitors all the law associated with the
rail transport and implementation of the order (McHanwell et al., 2019).
Health and safety executive (HSE): This body monitors the safety and health of the
organizations which are related to the tour and travel industry.
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1.2 Discuss surface, sea and air transport law in relation to the carriage of passengers
within the legal and regulatory framework of the United Kingdom.
Background: Organizations related to surface transport, sea transport, and air transport needs to
follow the transport law of the English legal system (Huang et al., 2016). This law ensures the
fair economic value, the safety of the passengers.
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Transport through Air: all public transport through air and airline industry is the responsibility
of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The domestic and international flights of UK are coming
under the domestic, European and international law. Managing Air Travel Organizer licensing is
the responsibility of CAA. Airport order 1984, Airport Act 1986, The Civil Aviation (Insurance)
Regulations 2005, The Aeroplane Noise Regulations 1999, The Civil Aviation Regulations 2005
and Air Navigation Order 2005 are monitored by this body.
Transport through sea: passengers transport, ticker fare of boats and ships are the
responsibilities of MCA. A new sea transport law has been announced where the customers can
claim a refund for their ticket fare if the ship or boat delayed more than 90 minutes.
Surface transport: Concessionary Bus Travel Act 2007 refers to the concession for the senior
citizen and disables. Local transport act 2008 is responsible for controlling the transport system.
Discrimination Acts of 1995 and 2005 also comes under the surface transport because it refers to
any discrimination based on age, sex, color while traveling (Uysal and Sirgy, 2016). There are
various laws for controlling the surface transport regulations.
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Task 2
Introduction
Thomas Cook has been one of the travel and tour company of the United Kingdom which has
spread in various areas and countries and operating through multiple retail outlets. The company
has been known for serving people with quality services, and it also provides a number of health
and safety measures and policies due to which the company has been gaining success. The
various health and safety policies along with the safety legislation would be a part of the
concerned report, and by the end of this report, the reason for Thomas Cook's success would be
known to the reader. Being a manager at such a renowned organization has helped in serving
people with pride and grace.
2.1 Evaluate the impacts of the principles of health, safety and security legislation on the
travel and tourism sector with reference to a UK tour operator and travel agency
Being safe and secured is demanded by every customer and while traveling and touring, the
safety measures become a compulsion. Even the companies providing the travel and tourism
services have to follow a number of policies and legislation so that their customers felt safe and
secured while receiving the services (Ross, 2018). The principles of health and safety commands
and demands quality of life, and security of life while travelling under the company's name. The
travel and tourism business follows a number of policies which makes its goodwill in the
industry and thus the success of the company gets revealed. Thomas Cook has been following
almost all the laws and legislation that should be followed by any such company under the
concerned industry. The various laws and policies could be discussed as follows
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Data Protection Act: this act makes an obligation on the company to share any details of its
customers with an outsider. The act has been framed to protect all the information that the
customer provides to the travel and tourism company on any grounds should not be shared with
anyone without the peer consent of the customer. Thomas cook has been one of the companies
which have never revealed any information about its customers to anyone, and this makes the
customers feel secure and safe under the concerned company.
Health and Safety Act 1974: The health and safety act makes the company liable for any
accident that might occur at the workplace and the employees harmed by that harmful act can
demand compensation for it. This act also ensures that the customers travelling through the
agency are safe and secured while travelling under the company's name. Thomas Cook has been
following this policy since its establishment and the employees, as well as the customers, have
always been safe and healthy under it (Felland Dyban, 2017).
The duty of Care Act: this act makes the company responsible for taking care of its customers
from the time when the customer wishes to receive some services from it. The customer can
demand care and security until he is paying for the services of the company. Thomas Cook has
been doing so, and this is the reason for the company has been sustaining in the industry for so
many years.
There are many other acts which affirms the security and safety of the customers and of the
employees like the Occupiers Liability Act and Vicarious Liability act which makes the
customers much more secured and safe.
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2.2 Analyze legislation that relates to equality with reference to a UK tour operator and
travel agency
Equality has been one of the rights of human beings and so does it in the tourism industry. No
individual is eligible for experiencing any discrimination on the basis of any criteria. Thomas
Cook has been serving the people without even acknowledging the senses of discrimination and
has seen all its customers as its responsibility to serve on equality grounds. The following acts
help in doing so
Race Discrimination Act, 1976: This act demands that no individual gets discriminated on the
basis of any race, religion or ethnicity while working under Thomas Cook or receiving service by
the same company (Young, 2015).
Disability Discrimination Act, 1995: No individual should be discriminated because of their
disability. Thomas Cook has been serving the people at large without any discrimination among
its customers.
Sex Discrimination Act, 1975: Thomas Cook views all the individuals equally and has not
discriminated on the basis of sex among any individuals.
Employment Protection Act, 1978: This act ensures that employment of all Thomas Cook
employees is protected during seasonal variations by bringing two acts namely Contracts of
employment act 1963 and redundancy payments act 1965 together.
Human Rights Act, 1998: This act provides each individual with a fair and justified right of
having equal wages, treatment, and behaviour by all. The act includes all the equality acts, and
every human carries a right to follow all its actions (Mills, 2016).
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It was found in the year 2010, that all the above acts be followed in the United Kingdom under
the Equality Act. All the individuals who carry citizenship under the UK government have a
right to follow this act. The Equality Act, 2010 has helped in attaining equality overwork, living,
etc.
Conclusion
The analysis and exploration of the various health, security and safety acts have provided a
knowledgeable study of the legislation. It has helped in knowing the reason behind the execution
of the company's smooth and quality services that have been delivered by it. The British
government has helped in delivering such quality services through the implication of such laws
and regulations. These laws have a generalized positive impact on the tourism industry of
Britain. The individual explanation of the equality and its different acts and the health and safety
acts has helped in acknowledging the effectiveness of the legislation, and the reason behind the
implication of such acts has been revealed.
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TASK 3
3.1 Explain contract legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers
Contract law: contract basically establishment of an agreement between two individuals or
organizations. Contract law refers to the guidelines which the contract will follow.
Contract Law element: There are certain key elements at the time of establishing any contract
between the customer and the service provider. These key elements are:
 Tourist and the tourism provider come to an agreement regarding the food and
accommodation and the transport facilities also mentioned in that agreement. Both the
parties fixed a rate for the travel and the services.
 Capacity is one of the elements; this refers to the abilities of the parties (Throsby, 2016).
If any party does not understand the terms and regulations because of their age and
mental health then there no contract has been made between the party and the service
provider.
 Consideration is one of the elements; this refers to the consideration of monetary affairs
and the process.
 Thomas cook made a contract with the parties by clearly stated their terms and
conditions. This thing reduces the chances of confliction and doubts.
 Both the parties must need to sign the contract paper because it shows that both the
parties show the same interest in the term and conditions of that contract paper and if any
of the parties violate the terms and conditions of the contract then the other party can
charge penalties for that violation. So acceptance is another element.
 Another element is the intent; it refers to the motivation of the parties to carry the terms
and conditions.
 The object of the contract is the last element. This refers to the terms and conditions
which the contract will follow at the time of creation.
Thomas cook group is package holiday provider, and they offer packages with certain facilities
and if any customer show interest to that package holiday then the contract made between the
customer and Thomas cook following the Package travel regulation act 1992 (Nikitenko, 2017).
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3.2 Explain consumer protection legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers.
The interest and benefit of the customers also been protected in the travel and tourism industry.
Consumer’s protection legislation consist of laws which are Package Holidays and Package
Tours Regulations 1992, the Consumer Protection Act 1987, Trades Description Act 1968 and
many more.
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 There are several acts which help the customers by providing compensation if the
organizations go bankrupt or insolvent before the term of the contract fulfilled.
 Regulation-5 refers that the services providers must need to ensure provide the booking
slips, accommodation, and food detail information to the customers (Zhang and Tian,
2014). Additionally, they need to provide the cost of transport along with the cost of
these things.
 The consumers are protected by the torts of negligence and nuisance against the violation
of their security and violation.
 Regimen 15 under tourist protection act refers to the liability of the suppliers and
associates of the travel agency. If any of the suppliers fail to provide the particular service
to the customer, then the travel agency needs to compensate the customer's behalf of
those suppliers.
 The organization must need to ensure the data protection act and need to keep the privacy
of the customer’s data.
 The organization must need to care about the customer’s data, security, safety, and
privacy as it comes under the duty of care regulation. Suppose if Thomas Cook violates
this rule then the customer can file a case against them and the organization will be
penalized for that.
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TASK 4
Introduction
Business ethics is one of the important portions of any of the business industry. Tour and travel
industry also needs to justify the ethical aspects. In this case, Thomas cook also faces dilemmas
of ethics. The organization must need to ensure corporate social responsibilities.
4.1 Analyze ethical dilemmas faced by the travel and tourism sector
Ethics of an organization helps the organization to understand the perspective of right and wrong
(Loperena, 2017). Ethical aspects always help the organization finds the right path for the
organization. Legal and ethics is not the same thing. Legal work depends on the ethical aspects,
but it is not necessary that all ethical aspects must be legal.
Fig 4: dimensions of ethical and legal behaviour
Source: (Loperena, 2017)
Following are some ethical dilemmas which the tour and travel industry face:
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Dilemma relating to the use of tourism resources: organization sometimes does some actions
which do not follow the rules of tourism resource responsibilities. It harms the visitor’s attraction
nature, tourist places.
Dilemmas for benefiting business: To grow the economic valuation of the organization,
sometimes organizations support the political agendas instead of supporting the economic
aspects of the local area (Jenkins and Mkono, 2015). Organization under the tour and travel
industry must need to ensure that their economic benefit also a part of the social benefit.
Business ethics refers that travel industry must support the local economy.
Marketing dilemmas: For attracting new customers tour operators increase the price of the
package during the peak season and then do the discount for the customers which actually
against the business ethics. This false discount or the marketing strategy is unethical, but most of
the organization does this to increase the financial benefit.
Fig 5: ethical concerns of business
Source: (Jenkins and Mkono, 2015)
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4.2 analyze the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy of a specified travel and
tourism business
Corporate social responsibilities basically refer to the responsibilities of society and people
(Throsby, 2016). So the corporate organizations like Thomas cook must need to ensure some
responsibilities towards the society and individuals.
 Protection of the environment
 Human rights protection
 Marketplace/ consumers benefit
 Understanding the importance of protection and preservation of natural resources
 Ensuring some charitable events where communities show involvement through their
participation
 Ethical business conduct
 Enhance the security or protection system for the employees
 Need to ensure benefit for both of the organization and society
Fig 6: Ethics and CSR
Source: (Throsby, 2016)
Thomas cook ensures some policies of corporate social responsibilities and these are:
 Anti-discrimination felicitate by the social policy of the organization.
 The organization also ensures the practice which will not harm the natural environment
and their environmental policy refers to that.
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 The organization will contribute a share from their profit in the charitable events and the
charitable development policy of the organization also refers that the organization will
participate in charitable events for the betterment of the society.
 The sustainable policy of the organization refers that the organization will participate in
the sustainable tourism management around the UK.
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Conclusion:
This report helps to understand the ethical points and the corporate social responsibilities which
any organization must need to ensure for increase the financial benefit. Additionally, this
assignment will help to understand the laws and legislation under the tour and travel industry of
the United Kingdom. In conclusion, the learner dictates that this report is consist of complete
information and the four parts of the topic are well defined.
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