Legislation and Ethics in Travel and Tourism Sector: A UK Focus

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LEGISLATION AND ETHICS IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................3
LO1........................................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OF TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR................4
1.2 SURFACE, SEA AND AIR TRANSPORT LAW WITH REFERENCE TO THE REGULATORY
FRAMEWORK OF UNITED KINGDOM....................................................................................1
LO2........................................................................................................................................... 0
2.1 EVALUATION OF THE IMPACTS OF HEALTH, SAFETY AND SECURITY LEGISLATION ON
TOURISM OF UK................................................................................................................... 0
2.2 ANALYSING THE LEGISLATION WHICH RELATES TO EQUALITY.......................................1
LO3........................................................................................................................................... 3
3.1 EXPLANATION OF CONTRACT LEGISLATION RELATED TO TRAVEL AND TOURISM.........3
3.2 EXPLANATION OF CONSUMER PROTECTION LEGISLATION RELATED TO TRAVEL AND
TOURISM CUSTOMERS.........................................................................................................1
LO4........................................................................................................................................... 1
4.1 ETHICAL DILEMMAS FACED BY TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR....................................2
4.2 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY POLICY OF BRITISH AIRWAYS..............................2
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................. 5
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: British Airways logo................................................................................................14
Figure 2: Corporate Social Responsibility..............................................................................16
2

INTRODUCTION
The report aimed at providing an understanding of the travel and tourism sector along with
its legal and regulatory framework and other laws related to the tourism industry. There are
three ways of travel mainly which are surface, air and water travel. The legal requirements
related to these ways of traveling are explained in the given report. The regulatory
requirements which are related to health, safety, and security of tourists are discussed
thoroughly in this report along with their impact on the travel and tourism sector of UK
country. Further, the legislation related to equality, contract legislation and protection of
consumer in relation to tourism is analysed. At last, the business ethics of the travel and
tourism industry is understood in the report. Ethical dilemmas can arise in various situations
in travel and tourism which is a situation where it becomes difficult to choose between one
path and one specific choice. Such dilemmas are explained in the report along with
corporate social responsibility policies of the travel and tourism industry.
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LO1
1.1 LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OF TRAVEL
AND TOURISM SECTOR
Travel and tourism sector of the UK is
considered as the world’s biggest tourism
sector that is ranked at 6th position. The
legislation is the law that is enacted by the
government or other legislative body
ruling at a particular period. It is passed by
a bill or other piece of legislation by the
statue (Business Dictionary, 2018).
Criminal law is the legislation or a body of
law which is applicable to the criminal acts
of a country. There are two main types of
criminal laws which are laws for
misdemeanours and felonies (Maitreyee,
2018).
Civil law is the law which deals with
conflicts among the people, protect their
rights and provides legal remedies for
disputes relating to property, contracts,
torts and family law (Legal Dictionary,
2018). A tort is a civil wrong or a wrongful
act which give rise to legal liability
including monetary compensation.
Ombudsman is government official
appointed by the government for
investigating about any complaints made
by a citizen against any government
official, company or organization and for
investigating customer complaints against
his or her employer (Business Dictionary,
2018).
Rail Ombudsman is a person or a non-
profit organization which resolves
customer complaints and provide free,
expert service to the customers of rail
industry against the service providers. In
the UK rail ombudsman was appointed to
handle complaints which were not
resolved by train operators or passenger
groups (Milligan, 2018).
ACAS or the Advisory, Conciliation and
Arbitration Services is a body established
by the government which works for
improving the relationships between
employee and employer by solving any
disputes arises between them and provide
a better environment for working in the
organizations. In the UK, Advisory,
Conciliation, and Arbitration Services is a
non-governmental body which is
sponsored by the Department for
Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
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(GOV.UK, 2018). The Advisory,
Conciliation and Arbitration Services
improve the business relationships among
employee and employer and provide
better business practices and working life.
ACAS try to resolve the matter of conflict
between any two parties first from
outside the tribunal which is known as
early conciliation. But if the case remains
unsolved, the Early Conciliation will end
and the claim will proceed.
The Hierarchy of Courts
The government of United Kingdom has
different and separate legal systems for
England and Wales, Scotland and
Northern Ireland. The civil courts of
England and Wales are consists of The
Supreme Court of United Kingdom, The
Court of Appeal, Civil Division, The High
Court of Justice, The County Courts and
The Tribunals. The Supreme Court of the
United Kingdom is the highest civil
judiciary authority for resolving civil and
criminal cases. The Court of Appeal has
two divisions separate for civil and
criminal cases whose decision is final and
binding on all other courts excluding the
Supreme Court. The high court has three
main divisions The Queen’s Bench Division
that handles cases related to contracts
and torts, The Family Division that has
Companies court, divisional court, and the
patents court falling under its control, The
Chancery Division that resolves issues
related to family law, matrimony etc. The
County Courts resolve mainly civil issues
of 92 towns/ cities across all of England
and Wales. At last, The Tribunals handles
the cases related to immigration,
employment, child welfare etc. by the
separate tribunal for each case (Rab,
2018).
Solicitor takes instructions from his client
and gives him legal or expert advice on
various issues such as personal issues,
commercial work and protecting rights of
the client. The client of a solicitor includes
individual people, groups, private
companies or public sector organizations
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(Colthart, 2015). Barrister is similar to a
solicitor but the only difference is that
they wear a wig and gown in court and are
considered as the higher level of authority
in the court. They are the lawyers who
resolve the matters of their client in a
specialized area (Colthart, 2015).
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1.2 SURFACE, SEA AND AIR TRANSPORT LAW WITH
REFERENCE TO THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OF
UNITED KINGDOM
The regulatory and legal framework of the
UK consists of various environmental,
shipping, air and space laws. Carriage of
Passengers by Road Act 1974 is an act
which guides the contracts related to
International Carriage of Passengers and
Luggage by Road. This act specifies the
rights as well as the liabilities in relation to
death or injury to the passengers and
damage or loss to the luggage or any
personal things of passengers. Carrier is
any person who undertakes the contract
of carriage of person or luggage who will
be responsible for the acts and omissions
of his agents and servants. The carrier
shall be liable for any loss or damage to
the passengers or their luggage but will
not be liable for any consequences which
occurred even after keeping due diligence
and care (Legislation.gov.uk, 2018).
Athens Convention of 1974 is the
regulation formed by UK government for
governing issues related carriage of
passengers and luggage through sea or
water resources. The carrier includes any
person on whose behalf the contract of
carriage has been concluded. The
convention of carriage applies to
international carriage if the ship, the
contract of carriage and the place of
departure or destination are related to
the State Party to this Convention (Zeng,
2018).
The regulatory bodies operating under the
Travel and tourism sector are-
 ABTA or Association of
Independent Tour operators are
leading travel association of UK
which aims at helping their
members, customers and other
traveling public in their travel
experience.
 AITO or the Association of
Independent Tour Operators has
120 of Britain's best independent
tour operators in its organization.
This association has three pillars of
Choice, Quality, and Service and
aimed at providing maximum
satisfaction to their customers by
specializing themselves in a
particular field.
 ICAO or International Civil Aviation
Organisation is an organization
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which aimed at regulating international air transport services.
LO2
2.1 EVALUATION OF THE IMPACTS OF HEALTH, SAFETY
AND SECURITY LEGISLATION ON TOURISM OF UK
Health and safety at Work Act 1974 is enacted in order to provide protection to the people
at work from the use of hazardous substances and dangerous machines at the workplace.
This act prevents unlawful acquisition, possession, and use of hazardous substances for
maintaining a suitable and practicable safe working environment for employees. The act
specifies the duties of employers in this regard of providing a safe working atmosphere to its
employees which need coordination of both the employers and the employees. Safety and
health measures should be taken by the employers by consulting with appropriate authority
for the installation of these measurements in the organization. It shall be the duty of the
employees also to keep a safe distance and take appropriate action for one's own safety and
should not expose himself to any risk at the workplace.
Occupiers Liability Act 1984 is formed to provide protection from any damage caused by
any person in the premises. The act states that occupier of the property will be held liable
for any damage caused or injury suffered by any person other than a visitor. There is a
liability put on the owner of the premises that he should inform about any danger or vicinity
of danger if known to him to the person holding the premise. This act is an amendment in
the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 which applies to a person who obtains the premises for
recreational or educational purposes in England and Wales. The liability of occupier is
discharged after he has given suitable warning regarding the use of premises or discourages
the person from incurring any risk.
Data Protection Act 1998 is an act formed by the parliament of the UK for protecting the
data and information which is stored by the organizations, businesses or the government.
This act provides the methods of using and processing information and data that contain
personal information of the general public. The obtaining, holding, using and disclosing of
personal information for any purpose is defined in the data protection act.
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2.2 ANALYSING THE LEGISLATION WHICH RELATES TO
EQUALITY
The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 enacted by the government of British in the parliament of
the United Kingdom which aims at protecting the citizens of the country from discrimination
on the basis of sex or marital status. The act aimed at promoting equality between men and
women and to make any discrimination act unlawful. Any provision which discriminates
women on the ground of sex, or treats her unfavourably will be considered as an unlawful
and punishable offense in the eyes of law. Similarly, any such act of treating a man
unfavourably will be a punishable act. However, any act of unfavourable treatment to any
man or woman on the grounds of sickness or injury will not be considered unlawful. Equal
payment rights to the employees regardless of their sex are ensured by the Equal Pay Act,
1970.
Race Relation Act 1976 was formed the parliament of UK which aimed at providing
protection against discrimination on the grounds of race. This act established
the Commission for Racial Equality which prevents discrimination with any person due to his
skin colour, ethical background, and nationality (Rodrigues, 2015). The act prevents
individuals from less favourably behaviour of their employers due to their race by making
provision related to health and works including provisions for recruitment, applying for
promotion, salary, leaves, etc. Any act of harassment and victimization both directly and
indirectly due to racism is prohibited by the Race Relation Act 1976 (Brown, 2018).
Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 is an act formed by the British parliament
which was a central part of UK labour law. The two legislations were consolidated in
Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 which are the Contracts of Employment
Act 1963 and the Redundancy Payments Act 1965. This act discussed the particulars of
terms of employment, provisions related to maternity, rights arising in the course of
employment, suspension from work on medical grounds, Trade union membership and
activities, Time off work Right to return to work, Termination of Employment, etc.
Employment Act 2002 is a statutory law which aimed at promoting family-friendly working
at the workplace. Various matters related to employment at the workplace such as disputes
between employee and employer, equal treatment for fixed-term employees and other
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matters, etc. are resolved under this act. Employment act provides grievance solving
procedure system on the notice given by the employee in the form of a written application.
The act includes improvements in the employees' existing parental leave rights in areas such
as an increase in maternity pay, increase in maternity period up to six months, paternity
leave of two weeks, paternal leave and pay issues, etc.
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LO3
3.1 EXPLANATION OF CONTRACT LEGISLATION RELATED
TO TRAVEL AND TOURISM
Supply contract is an agreement whereby
the seller promises the buyer to supply a
certain amount of goods at a certain price
which was agreed by both the parties at a
specified time. The contract binds both
the parties to do their duty as was
promised by them before. The supply
contract contains details about the mode
of payment, means of delivery, product to
be delivered, time of delivery and
payment, and other related aspects of
supply. The supply contract contains
terms and conditions related to the supply
of goods and services from the seller to
the buyer.
A service agreement is an agreement
between two parties where one party
agrees to take services of others. This
agreement is binding on both the parties
which are usually two persons or
businesses. Service agreement includes a
description of persons or the parties of
the agreement, description of services to
be provided, charges of service, a period
of service, a plan for contingency action,
and a choice-of-law provision. General
Service Agreement, Consultant Services
Agreement, Artist Services
Agreement, Child Care Services
Agreement are some of the various types
of service agreements (Law Depot, 2019).
The Package Travel and Linked Travel
Arrangements Regulations 2018 are the
regulations for package holiday offered by
the traveling company to its tourists
which consists of various travel services
such as Carriage of passengers,
Accommodation, Motor Vehicle Hire and
Any other tourist service. This regulation
places liability on the travel services for
providing protection to the customer
against insolvency of package organizers.
The travellers get detailed information
about what they buy from the travel
service and other associated protections
are given to them by Package Travel and
Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations
2018. However, this regulation is not
applicable for any travel package or
arrangement which is engaged for less
than 24 hours, linked travel arrangement
that is organized on an occasional basis
and not for earning the profit, any
packages which are purchased on the
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