Legal and Ethical Frameworks in the UK Travel and Tourism Industry

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LEGISLATION AND ETHICS IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 2
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................ 3
1.1 EXPLANATION ABOUT THE LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR THE TRAVEL AND
TOURISM SECTOR WITH RESPECT 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 UNITED KINGDOM..........5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................ 6
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..................................................................................................6
2.2 ANALYSE LEGISLATION THAT RELATES TO EQUALITY WITH REFERENCE TO A UK TOUR
OPERATOR AND TRAVEL AGENCY..................................................................................................8
TASK 3.......................................................................................................................................... 10
3.1 EXPLAINING CONTRACT LEGISLATIONS TO THE CUSTOMERS OF THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM
SECTOR........................................................................................................................................ 10
3.2 EXPLAINING CONSUMER PROTECTION LEGISLATION IN TERMS OF TRAVEL AND TOURISM. 12
TASK 4.......................................................................................................................................... 14
4.1 ANALYSIS OF ETHICAL DILEMMA FACED BY THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM INDUSTRY.............14
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4.2 ANALYSIS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY POLICY OF TUI.......................................16
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 18
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................19
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INTRODUCTION
The major purpose of laws and regulation is maintaining dignity, equality in a given business so
that there is no violation occurred in any given specific business. These laws and regulation are
also applicable in the travel and tourism sector so as to maintain ethics in the given business
without any bias. The given study has been based on the travel and tourism sector of England
and Wales which is surging to a great extent. However, there has also been an increase in crime
rates against the tourists which has resulted in an immediate requirement of laws to provide
full protection with the tourists. Furthermore, consumer protection legislation has also been
discussed in the given study. At last, the ethical dilemma faced by the travel and tourism sector
with their CSR policies would also be discussed.
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TASK 1
1.1 EXPLANATION ABOUT THE LEGAL
AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
FOR THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM
SECTOR WITH RESPECT TO ENGLAND
AND WALES
Legal Framework
It is a broad system of rules and regulation
which includes several laws and contracts
to guide any business in an effective
manner. The size of the tourism sector in
the UK has increased which has made the
requirement of a large number of legal
framework so as to allow the given business
to conduct in a smooth manner. The legal
framework of England and Wales is large
and are as follows:
Transport Act, 1980 and 1985
As per the Act of 1980, there has been
cancellation of license regulations in couch
tour and routes for more than 30 miles.
However, it has resulted in stiff competition
between private and public transportation.
Nevertheless, the 1985 Act has provided
the private transportation company to
conduct their operation at any route across
the nation (Mowforth and Munt, 2015).
Development of Tourism Act, 1969
With the help of this Act, a British Tourist
Authority (BTA) has been set up for
England, Wales and Scotland. As per this
act, there should be significant coordination
among various tourist destinations in the
country so as to provide a single platform
for solving all the tourist related issues.
With the help of this Act, English Tourism
Council (ETC) and the British Tourist
Authority (BTA) have been merged to form
a single group called, Visit Britain (Nguyen,
et al. 2018).
Package Travel, Package Holidays and
Package Regulations 1992
From 1992, all the tour operators which are
providing package holidays are subjected to
this legislation. This act protects the
customers from any kind of breach they
have faced in their tour packages.
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Regulatory Framework
There are various regulatory frameworks in
the travel and tourism industry of England
and Wales. These are:
Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA)
This Act was established in 1974 and is the
largest Act which has concern for the health
and safety of workers working in any
organisation.
Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA)
This regulation act deals with travel agents
and operators and keeps a strict vigil on
them so as to maintain a high standard in
the tourism market (Saggerson, 2008).
Air Travel Operators Licensing (ATOL)
This act provided protection to those
travellers who constant travel using air
transports. It solves their issues related to
the purchase of airline tickets and tour
packages in an effective manner (Beesley
and CLittlechild, 2013).
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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
UNITED KINGDOM
SURFACE TRANSPORT LAW
Carriage of Passenger by Road Act, 1974
As per this act, the passengers are provided
protection to them while travelling through
buses, taxies and provide them with
monetary relief as compensation. This act is
applicable within the geographical
boundary of the country (Myburgh, 2018).
AIR TRANSPORT LAW
Warsaw Convention, 1929
This law protects the passengers as well as
international carriage while using air
transport. The affected passenger could
claim the compensation due to damage of
their property and life and death of their
nearer person. To avail its benefits, the
passengers are required to carry their
tickets so that claiming their compensation
would be relatively easy (Downes and
Paton, 2010).
SEA AND WATERWAYS LAW
Athens Convention, 1974
As per this law, the passenger using
waterways as a transportation medium
could claim the compensation in case it
encounters with either serious injury or has
faced the death of their beloved ones. Any
such kind of instances would be bearable by
the transport agency (Pappas, 2019).
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TASK 2
INTRODUCTION
The given report is based on the famous tour operator across the UK, Thomas Cook. Being the
manager of the reputed travel agency, the given task would be a part of training material for all
its staff members which would be based on the regulation and association with them in the
tourism sector so as to provide proper security and equality in their working environment.
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
There are various regulations which are implemented by the government for protecting the
health, safety and security of the people in the travel and tourism sector. These are:
HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK ACT, 1974
As per this act, the safety and health of the individual who is working at their workplace are
covered. The employers who own travel and tourism agencies are obliged to provide the
necessary facilities to ensure proper safety for the employees without compromising with their
health. If the employees are compelled to work in a hazardous environment, they are entitled
to get protection from this act.
DATA PROTECTION ACT, 2018
Under this act, the general data of the employees as well as the customers are provided with
necessary security so that no one could breach their privacy. The working of this act has been
based on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). With the help of this act, the travel
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agency would ensure that there would not be any theft about the personal data and
information of the customers and necessary steps would be taken to provide them with extra
security. Moreover, without their consent, their data would not be shared with other person or
organisation (Spencer and Patel, 2019).
OCCUPIERS LIABILITY ACT, 1984
As per this act, the safety and security of the travellers visiting the office premises of any travel
agencies are provided with several protections which include any compensation for the loss,
damage and harm to the customers within their premises. This act ensures that the given
organisation provides necessary arrangements for the safety and security of the persons who
are visiting its premises (Bennett, 2011).
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2.2 ANALYSE LEGISLATION THAT RELATES TO EQUALITY WITH REFERENCE TO A
UK TOUR OPERATOR AND TRAVEL AGENCY
Thomas Cook, a leading travel and tour operator in the UK ensures equality at their workplace
to their employees by application of equality related legislation. These are:
EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION ACT, 1978
This act is applicable to all the industries and organisations functioning in the UK and ensures
safety and security of the employees so they could work in the given organisation without any
issues. The main purpose of this act is to provide protection to the employees in terms of
payment and contractual frameworks (Lockwood, et al. 2012).
SEX DISCRIMINATION ACT, 1975
According to this act, it is the responsibility of the organisation to ensure that there should not
be any gender-based biased, especially against women. Moreover, they should not be
discriminated in terms of payment, salary, training sessions and should be provided with all the
opportunities which are provided to their male counterpart.
DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION, ACT
This act ensures necessary protection to the person with disabilities and who are working in the
given tour agency. According to this act, it is the responsibility of the given organisation to
ensure that there should not be any discrimination against them in terms of working, training
and salary. Moreover, they would not be abused or make fun in the given office premises
(Bullock and Johnson, 2011).
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CONCLUSION
The given report has been prepared to provide necessary information about the legislation
which is meant for the employees working in a travel agency such as Thomas Cook and ensures
that there would be no harm to their rights related to their safety, health and equality within
the office premises.
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TASK 3
3.1 EXPLAINING CONTRACT
LEGISLATIONS TO THE CUSTOMERS
OF THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM
SECTOR
Contract
It is an agreement between two or more
than two given parties who have entered
into it and pave way for necessary
obligations for both the parties as per the
court of law. The contracts have played a
significant role in the travel and tourism
sector. These are:
1. There is a binding of law on both the
passenger and travel operator
2. In case the consumer has signed the
contract, they are liable to provide payment
to the travel operators. On the other hand,
if the operators are unable to fulfil the
promise of their customers, then they are
liable to provide them with compensation
3. It is the responsibility of the tour
operator to inform the consumer about the
contract and the necessary details in it
4. Furthermore, the contract terms and
conditions of the travel operator should
also be explained to the consumer (Mak
and Chang, 2019)
Elements of a Legal Contract
There are various important elements
related to a legal contract. These are:
Offer
According to this term, one party needs to
offer a contract to the other party and if the
latter accepts it, the contract becomes
valid. One thing is noted that this would
happen if there are at least two parties for
making an offer. One such example is the
filling of the holiday package by the
travellers which has been offered to them
by the tour operators (Haigh, 2018).
Acceptance
The accepting of the contract to the party
to whom the offer has been provided is
known as acceptance to that contract. For
example, the purchasing of a holiday
package with all terms and conditions is
considered as acceptance.
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