Contract Legislation in Travel and Tourism: A Comprehensive Analysis

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Contract legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers
Importance:
It safeguards the rights and duties of the customer
It helps the travel companies to ensure that their customers fully
understand the policies of the company and is ready to accept it
before serving them
It act as an evidence on the event of disagreement between the
parties
It would help the company maintain the records of its operation.
Elements of valid legal contract
Offer- In order to enter into a contract, there must be two
parties present and one of them should make the offer.
Acceptance- It is process of accepting the terms and conditions of
the offer and deciding to get into a contract.
Consideration- Some amount of consideration must be involved
for the contract to be valid.
Capacity- For the contract to be valid, both the parties involved
must have the capacity to enter into contract.
Certainty- The contract must be certain in nature in order to be
valid.
Supply of Goods and Service Act, 1988- This act implies that the
suppliers must supply the goods and services as per the demand
of the customers.
Holiday packages:
The terms and conditions agreed upon by the
travel agency and the customer
The details related to the quality of hotel,
duration of stay, mode of transportation,
activities wished to be taken upon by the
customer (Sudbury and Wilson, 2015).
It is important to ensure that the services
promised in the holiday contract must be
provided with reasonable care.
Consumer protection legislation in relation to travel and
tourism customers
Trade Description Act, 1968- This act deals with the
description of goods and services traded. Certain new
provision has been added to this act relating to wrong
description of traded goods and services
Consumer Protection Act, 1987- This act strives to protects the
right of the customers. It aims at reducing the fraud activities
that hampers the interest of the customers. The customers have
certain rights such as right to information, right to seek remedies,
right to be heard etc, it ensures that all these are taken into
consideration by the travel agencies while conducting its operation
For instance if a customer feels cheated by a travel agent, he may
seek remedy from the court of justice by suing the same.
Package Tour Regulation, 1992- As per this regulation, the
tour operators are under strict obligation of providing detailed
information related to the tour to the customers. It is the duty
of the tour operator to ensure that the client is aware of all the
terms and conditions of the tour and activities that will take
place while on the tour and agrees to the same
Other legislation for protecting the right of the customers involves the
regulation, granting customers with certain rights such as right to refuse to
stay at hotels that is not appropriate as per the contract or refuse to travel by
the mode, which is not safe according to them. There are various legislations,
which puts obligations on the hotels and travel agencies to maintain their
operation keeping in mind the safety of the travelers. There are certain
legislations that have been framed to avoid the adoption of unfair trade
practices by the travel agencies, such as giving out false information in the
company’s brochure, leaflets or handbooks.