Legal and Ethical Frameworks in the UK Travel and Tourism Industry

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LEGISLATION AND ETHICS IN THE
TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR

Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
LO1........................................................................................................................................................4
THE LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OF THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR WITH
REFERENCE TO ENGLAND AND WALES..............................................................................................4
SURFACE, SEA AND AIR TRANSPORT LAW IN RELATION TO THE CARRIAGE OF PASSENGERS WITHIN
THE LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OF UNITED KINGDOM................................................7
LO2........................................................................................................................................................8
2.1 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
...........................................................................................................................................................8
2.2 LEGISLATION THAT RELATES TO EQUALITY WITH REFERENCE TO A UK TOUR OPERATOR AND
TRAVEL AGENCY..............................................................................................................................10
TASK 3..................................................................................................................................................11
3.1 EXPLANATION OF CONTRACT LEGISLATIONS TO TRAVEL AND TOURISM CUSTOMERS.............11
3.2 EXPLANATION OF CONSUMER PROTECTION LEGISLATION IN RELATION TO TRAVEL AND
TOURISM CUSTOMERS....................................................................................................................13
LO4......................................................................................................................................................15
4.1 ETHICAL DILEMMAS FACED BY TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR................................................16
4.2 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY POLICY OF THOMAS COOK COMPANY............................17
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................................20
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................21

INTRODUCTION
Travel and tourism is a booming industry that is growing fast at an exceptional level. There are
certain rules and regulations to be followed while operating this business in order to ensure quality
services at nominal prices. The most common and popular regulatory services given in England and
Wales are elaborated in this study. The research covers the many types of laws exercised in the sea,
land and air routes of travel that are instituted to ensure that the travel of passengers and
commodities is hassle-free. The impact that the health, safety and security have on the major tour
operator of the UK that is Thomas Cook and Company is understood in the study. The much
legislation on equality, anti-discrimination and ensuring quality healthcare in all aspects of travel is
covered in the study. The importance of contract legislation in a travel booking between a consumer
and a travel provider is also essentially carried out in the research to create awareness of the rights
and duties of the consumers and the service providers (Medlik, 2012).

LO1
THE LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OF THE TRAVEL AND
TOURISM SECTOR WITH REFERENCE TO ENGLAND AND WALES
A regulatory process is that kind of process
that is based on regulations or rules which
imply the following of specific laws and
general objectives. There are many
regulations in regard to the tourism industry
as well. In regard to tourism, the regulations
are formed to impact the sustainability of the
tourism industry, management of the industry
and to protect and conserve the natural and
cultural resources. It also facilitates the
involvement of local communities and their
participation in the conservation of natural
resources and habitat (Higham et al., 2016).
The legal processes are the laws that are
framed in order to ensure that the right
practices of conducting business are met. The
legal processes ensure that the travel
agencies are following the guidelines set for
them. The application of laws and regulations
makes the travelling process smooth for
travellers and travel agents alike (Buhalis and
Darcy, 2010).
All the laws are basically segregated into two
types- criminal and civil. The criminal laws are
those kinds of laws that relate to the crime of
any kind. The conduct is perceived as a threat
or harm to the person at stake. Criminal law
covers the punishment and rehabilitation of
those persons who have committed the crime.
The criminal law is established when
wrongdoing is happened with the public,
society or on a community level. Examples of
crime are many like theft, assault, drunk
driving, etc.
Civil law is that kind of law that relates to a
behaviour regarding injury or harm to an
individual or a private party. The examples of
civil law are defamation, any breach of
contract, any kind of negligence observed in
the injury or death of a person and damage to
someone's property. While solving the
criminal cases, the federal or the state
government initiate the case and are decided
by the jury. The punishment charges mostly
consist of imprisonment but more serious
crimes may lead to more serious punishments
and fines (Duignan, 2019).
Laws are also classified as contract laws, torts
and legislation. A contract law involves duties
on the parties who are in the contractor in a
contractual relationship. If anyone of the
party breaches the contract (where the
breach is an inability to meet the
requirements of eth elements of the contract)
then the contract law provides means of
paying to the one who got damaged from

those who did the damage (Miller et al.,
2010).
Under tort law, the members of different
communities act in an amicable manner with
each other. Tort law believes that the people
who wrong others are responsible for their
actions. If someone acts carelessly in a way
that the other one is harmed by it then the
person who did the wrongdoing is liable for
his actions (Tipton, 2018).
An industrial tribunal is those judicial bodies
that require a lawyer acting chairman, an
individual nominated by the association of
employees and one more person from the
Trades Union Congress (TUC). These members
form the independent panel and hear all the
cases on the disputes pertaining to
employment law (Bangwayo-Skeete and
Skeete, 2017).
An ombudsman is an advocate of the public
who represents the interest of the general
public about any matter that affects them on
a community level. The ombudsman
investigates the matter and looks into the
complaints made. The violation of rights or
any maladministration is looked into the
matter. The ombudsman is a government-
appointed advocate and has an independent
say in the matters.
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service
(ACAS)
ACAS is a body of the UK Parliament that tries
to improve the working culture of the
organizations by promoting and encouraging
strong work ethics and practice and follow up
of industrial relations practice. It can choose a
number of media for this like the arbitration
or the mediation. It also hears the pleas of the
employees’ trade unions. Acas takes an
independent stand on situations and solves
the matters from an impartial judgement
(Small et al., 2012).
Court Systems in England and Wales
Fig. Hierarchy of courts
Source- (Law et al., 2012)

A magistrates’ court is a lower level court
which works at the jurisdictional level. In
England and Wales, it is a court presided over
a magistrate. The cases that are dealt with are
mainly minor offences.
A county court is based in the respective
county which are the administrative divisions
of a region. In context to England and Wales,
there is a single County Court with unlimited
final jurisdictions (Smith, 2014).
The Crown Court is present in over 92
locations in England and Wales. The Crown
Court is one of the highest courts of appeal in
the handling of criminal cases. The prime
activities carried out by the Crown Court are
the appeals from the magistrate, issuing
sentences of defendants, jury trials, the
sentencing of those convicted in the Crown
court.
The High courts are the supreme courts in any
country or region who exercise the supreme
power of authority and decision making. It is
the highest degree of court in Australia but in
England and Wales, it is positioned lower in
the hierarchy.
The Supreme Court is the highest level court
in the hierarchy. The decisions taken by this
court are final, binding and unchallengeable.
They are also appellate courts who hear
appeals and review the decisions taken by the
lower level courts (Bowtell, 2015).

SURFACE, SEA AND AIR TRANSPORT LAW IN RELATION TO THE CARRIAGE
OF PASSENGERS WITHIN THE LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OF
UNITED KINGDOM
The various laws and regulations applied in
the context of sea, land and air are as follows-
Carriage of Passenger by Road Act 1974
The act emphasizes the responsibilities of the
carrier in safely transporting the passengers
to their destinations by taking care of them at
every step. By carrier, it is meant that the
carriage of passengers and with the aim to
provide comfortable transportation. The aim
of the journey could be related to business or
for leisure. The duties the carrier has to
exercise are the safe travels of the passengers
without any injury or harm inflicted on them.
Carriage by Air and Road Act 1979
In this act, the carrier's responsibilities are
highlighted which are basic to any travel or
journey made by the carrier. If there is any
loss or damage to the property of the
passengers then the carrier is directly
responsible. The protection of the life of
passengers from any unforeseen dangers of
travel is also the responsibility of the carrier
(Whittaker, 2010).

LO2
Introduction
While working as a manager for a UK based operator with retail travel centres all over the world, it is
asked to present the rules and regulations to the new trainees about the rules and legislation. The
regulations regarding the health, safety and security in the hospitality sector are discussed. The laws
regarding equality are also discussed in the report in the context of the tour operator.
Body
2.1 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
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
The laws under HASAWA 1974 undermine the laws and regulations laid out for the employers who
have to protect the employees at work while they are giving their services and doing the tasks
assigned to them. The employers have to ensure the best working practices for their workers, their
working surroundings, the equipment used at work as far as reasonably practicable. Any injury to the
workers or the staff or even the death of the employees due to exposure to hazardous situations at
the workplace could severely penalize the employer who will have to pay for the damage occurred
to the employee and the worker.
Occupiers Liability Act 1984
This act is concerned about the trespassers who visit the workplace. It is also the right of the
trespassers to remain safe from any hazard happening at the workplace and remain aware of the
kind of hazard that is possible at the workplace. The landowners have a certain duty of care towards
the visitors who visit their place. If there is any danger of electric currents due to living to the fence,
then appropriate signboards should be constructed in clear and understandable terms that the area
is live wired. Similar is the case for fire possibilities (Whittaker, 2010).
Data Protection
Data protection is one of the most vital and imperative aspects that all operators in the hospitality
sector must abide too. In the case of data protection, it is the tour operators, agencies and holiday
planner’s responsibility to ensure that the data of the travellers with them is safe and secure. The
data should anyhow be not used anywhere else than making good arrangements for them on their

travel. Also, the data is not to be passed anywhere without the consent of the traveller. The data
protection has become an enormous task for the tour managers due to the bulk of information
gathered annually. More the number of travellers and holidays happening, more is the bulk of data
and more congenial to procure the data. Therefore it is more than ever important for the travel
operators to ensure the data of their clients as well as their employees are stored and protected
from any kind of misuse (Tarrant et al., 2014).
Vicarious Liability
It is a kind of imputed liability where the liability is laid on the person who has not done the crime
but has close associations or ties with the culprit. Vicarious liability has been mostly observed when
the client complaints against an employee for the negligent behaviour or improper attitude due to
which the employer has to apologise even if he was not the one to hurt the client but is still deemed
to be at fault as he has employed the employee who has done wrong. In this regard, the employer is
at vicarious liability.
Sex Discrimination Act 1975
The sex discrimination act entails that no employer can discriminate any employee on the basis of
gender, caste, creed or any other defined criterion. It is strictly prohibited for any employer in any
business scenario to discriminate against the employee even he possesses the necessary skills that
can land him or her the job. Discriminating against the female gender and paying them lesser than
their male counterparts for the same kind of work done by them.
Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978
This act protects the employment of the employees working for the employer. The employees are
entitled to work with respect and dignity and their employment should be safe at their work. When
the employer plans to lay off the employees then they should pre-inform them called the notice
period in which the employee can search for an alternate job in the duration. The employee should
work uninterrupted ad the employment protection protects the working employees at their work
(Whittaker, 2010).
Employment Act of 2002
The updated act on the employment act entails additional rights of the employees like the maternity
and paternity leaves, adoption leave, and any advantages they are entitled to. The employment law
updated these aspects as they were found important to be given to the employees going through a
change in their personal lives. The law is essential for employees to build a balance of personal and

professional lives. By using these opportunities and facilities provided by the employers, the
employees can carry out their routine activities without having to compromise towards their work.
2.2 LEGISLATION THAT RELATES TO EQUALITY WITH REFERENCE TO A UK
TOUR OPERATOR AND TRAVEL AGENCY
Purpose of key legislation and regulations
The legislation and regulations are important for ensuring that the work can be carried out without
being a burden for the employees or compromise in the services provided to the clients. The
purpose of laws is to ensure that the activities and the processes carried out for the satisfaction of
clients are met in an ethical way that benefits the consumers as well as the company in a better
manner. The place of laws is essential as they govern how the companies are going to perform and
serve their consumers (Whittaker, 2010).
EU Directives
The EU Directive is a form of legislation that is governed by the Member States who set out the
policies that are to be attained on a collective state. The directives usually work in the enforcement
of free trade, free movement of the goods and services, competition in Europe and other essential
market conventions happening around the world. The EU Directives are issues as directives which
can be passed by the government in concern to become laws and become enforceable. If they
become laws and then are violated then the complaint can be taken to the concerned authorities.

TASK 3
3.1 EXPLANATION OF CONTRACT LEGISLATIONS TO TRAVEL AND TOURISM
CUSTOMERS
CONTRACT LAW-
UK’S contract law is relating to the Sale and
Supply of Goods Act (1994) that focuses on
providing protection to the buyers and the
sellers. Contract means an agreement that is
enforceable by law that engages two parties
together to perform certain activities and that
contract is binding on each party to fulfil their
set of promises after voluntarily agreeing on
the agreement. For travel companies’
contract for fixed terms and conditions of
payment details as well as the details of the
place of the holiday, duration of stay and
places to visit and price of staying.
The contract for Supply of Goods- According
to sales of goods act 1979 the contract for the
supply of goods includes at least two parties
of contract and acceptance of each party
whereby one party offers to sell the goods at
a pre-determined price and in consideration,
other party pays a specified amount to the
seller.
Contracts for the provision of services- when
the seller is a service provider and charges
some consideration from another party for
the same comes under a contract of service
provisions. The service contracts include the
detail of the service provided, payment terms,
is the service provided on credit terms, details
for liability and its limits, privacy and security
of the shared service and data and the ending
of the contract (Merkin, 2010).
Contracts related to packaged holidays –
According to the package travel and linked
Travel agreements regulations of 1992, these
regulations are related to ‘package travel
contracts’ for the organisers of holidays
packages where the guidelines are provided
for a contract which should include-
 The package should be combined by
one trader
 The package should be purchased
from one point of sale
 The package selections are done
before the travellers agree to pay
 The advertisement done by the organiser should be under the terms of “package”
Valid contracts – There are the number of
contracts that people become part of daily, in
personal life as well as in professional life. A
valid contract is legally binding for both the
parties if there is an acceptance to the offer
made, both the parties are capable for
entering into a contract and there is a
consideration involved in the agreement to

the contract and most importantly the agreement is to be enforceable by law.
Unfair contracts- According to unfair contract
terms act 1977, if one of the parties to the
contract limits its liability to perform the
promise of the contract other than the
reasons due to death or personal injury, or
other loss or damage which makes the person
incapable of executing the contract.
Law of agency- Agency is the relation between
the 2 parties one is an agent and the other is
principal. The job of the agent is to generate
business for the principal and establish
contracts between the principal and the third
party. So in an agency, there are two
contracts one between the agent and
principal and agent and the second is
between the principal and the third party. In
the agency, the principal provides some
limited and specific authority to the agent and
if the agent exceeds the limit and goes
beyond the given authorities than an agent is
liable to the third party.
VALID CONTRACT
INT
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AGGREE
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CONSIDE
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