Legal and Ethical Frameworks in the UK Travel and Tourism Industry

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TRAVEL AND TOURISM LEGISLATION & ETHICS IN THE
TRAVEL & TOURISM SECTOR
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Task 1 (LO1, AC1.1, 1.2, M1, M2, M3, D1, D2, D3).....................................................................2
Task 2 (LO2, AC2.1, 2.2, M1, M2, M3, D1, D2, D3).....................................................................5
TASK 3 (LO3, AC3.1, 3.2, M1, M2, M3, D1, D2, D3)..................................................................8
TASK 4 (LO4, AC4.1, 4.2, M1, M2, M3, D1, D2, D3)................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
Reference list.................................................................................................................................15
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Introduction
Tourism law and legislation is applied in hospitality sector to improve safety and security factor
of passengers or service users. Equality and right contract are prepared in between service users
and travel sector to decrease the chance of breach of contract. In this study, different legislation
and regulatory framework of UK are discussed. Travlaw is the consulting firm that is selected for
task 1, in task 2, Tradewinds Tour and Travel is the selected company as a UK tour based
operator. In task 2, different principles of health and security legalisation are discussed to
improve equality concept in UK tourism sector. Thomas Cook is the UK based travel agency that
is selected for the task 3 and in task 4; Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) is selected.
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Task 1 (LO1, AC1.1, 1.2, M1, M2, M3, D1, D2, D3)
LO1: Legal and regulatory framework in the tourism sector
1.1 Legal along with regulatory framework of tourism sector
SRA (Strategic Rail Authority): Aims and objectives of SRA are included in the Transport Act
2000. Travlaw follows it objectives to improve their transport facilities. The main aim of this
authority is to increase satisfaction level of tourist when they are travelling from one place to
another.
HSE (Health and Safety Executive): it has been noticed that travel business appoints
executives who keep them updated about health and safety regulation in enterprises. Executives
look after broken equipments, defective tools, and other potential hazards to decrease the chance
of accidents and make the service much safer in nature.
HSC (Health and Safety Commission): It improves safety and security factor of employees and
public who are working under tourism sector. It has been seen that in Act of 1974, appropriate
hospitable environment and security environment are added to maintain cleanliness and security
factor in the tourism sector.
Maritime Authorities: Seafarer certifications are given by this authority where it provides
advice based on commercial fishing and prepares protocol for hydrography programme. This
authority keeps them updated about marine ecosystem and mitigates the chance overuse of water
resources.
ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents): Tourism procedures in Britain, Scotland and
Wales are regulated by ABTA. This agency is highly responsible for provision of insurance,
booking along with departure facilities (abta.com, 2019).
IATA (International Air Transport Association): In UK, this association promotes
cooperation in between world’s scheduled airlines to provide safer, secure and reliable air
services to the service users. Travlaw provides effective information to their clients about air
tickets and schedule so that they can enjoy their holiday effectively.
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ATOL (Air Travel Operators licensing): This commission provides visa and transport to
service users so that they can provide support to tourist in terms of their holiday packages and
offers.
CAA (Civil Aviation Authority): Objective of this authority is to regulate British Airways
industries and it implements aviation related law to improve tourism sector in UK. Codes of
conduct and arbitration service are another important part of travel and tourism sector as it
guides line manager to implement right code of business for their practical assistance.
Criminal law: It focuses on protecting duties and rights’ of tour operators. This law implement
penalty to tourism sector if they perform any kind of breach of conduct. Travlaw’s executives
follow rules and regulation of the criminal law so that they can decrease penalty from
government and other local bodies in a perfect manner.
Contract industrial Tribunal: this tribunal are prepared in between employees and employer of
tourism sector so that breach of contract can be easily prevented (employeerescue.co.uk, 2019).
ACAS (Conciliation and Arbitration service): ACAS provides training courses for line
manager, HR manager and supervisors to boost up organisation’s profitability and productivity
(acas.org.uk, 2019).
Magistrates’ court: this court provides summary of offences, either-way offences and indictable
offences so that judges can take right decisions against the offences (gov.uk, 2019).
Crown court: Criminal cases are judged in this court and it sits in 92 locations in Wales and
England (gov.uk, 2019).
Constitutional court: it acts as the Supreme Court for the criminal cases from Wales, England
and north Ireland (gov.uk, 2019). Travlaw follows past decision of court and takes suggestion
from the court protocol due to decrease the chance of breach of contract.
1.2 Discussion about sea, surface, and air transport in relation to cartilage of passengers
within regulatory and legal framework
Transportation mode of air, sea, and land in relation to cartilage of passengers are discussed
below:
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Airport transport protocols and conventions:
Hague (1955): this protocol focuses on rules related to International Carriage by Air. Another
important protocol of Airline transport is Warsaw (1929) as it determines different codes to
decrease the chance of death injuries of service users on the tourism sector.
Carriage of Passengers’ by Road Act 1974: this convention is applied to every contract for
carriage of passengers and contract is provided based on passengers’ luggage to decrease the
chance of breach of contract (legislation.gov.uk, 2019). This Act is implemented on passengers
who are travelling by road. Load of carriage are specified in this Act to eliminate the chance of
accident. Executives of Travlaw provide suggestion to service users regarding carriage and
important advice while travelling so that travellers’ can enjoy their trip in a systematic way.
Athens, London, and Geneva Conventions: Athens convention deals with carriage of
passengers who are travelling in sea. Geneva Convention establishes protocol for humanitarian
treatment in war. London convention focuses on safety factor of international events in London
such as Olympia.
Denied boarding compensation schemes: This scheme came into effect when passengers are
denied to board in flight instead of having a valid reservation tickets. Therefore, executives of
Travlaw always keep them updated about recent rules and regulation of government protocol
based on travel and tourism.
Task 2 (LO2, AC2.1, 2.2, M1, M2, M3, D1, D2, D3)
LO2: Legislation and regulation based on safety, health, and security in tourism sector 923
Introduction
In this section, Health and safety at Work 1974, Occupiers Liability Act 1984, Sex
discrimination Act 1975, Human rights Act 1998 and fair trading concept are included in the
section. Effective training to workers of tourism sector is included in this task so that employees
can manage work environment risk in a perfect manner. Impact of equal opportunity is discussed
in the task to raise accuracy in service.
2.1 Impact of principles related to health, security, and safety legislation on tourism sector.
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Impacts of regulation based on health and safety factor are as follows:
Fair-trading allows the travel sector to serve their service in front of their service users in fair
and safe manner. Simat et al. (2019) opine that it sets fair rules and regulation in between
consumers and service providers on daily basis to understand performance level of organisation.
Tradewinds investigate each issue of their stakeholders and modifies their performance to
decrease the chance of performance error. Employment law is also followed by Tradewinds to
provide equal opportunity to their employees based on performance instead of their sex, religion,
and beliefs. Data protection activity allows tourism sector to protect confidential data of their
tourist and it allows them to protect all confidential data of their business activities in a secure
manner. Equality and diversity legislation deals with Equality Act 2010 where tourism sector
ensures consistency in their business. It has been seen that fair environment in the working place
improves communication level ad psychological understanding in between service providers and
service users’ effectively. Health and safety factors are imposed on all stakeholders of travel
and tourism to decrease the chance of health injuries and other risk in their service. In case of
Tradewinds tour and travel, effective training is given to employees based on safety factors and
equipment handling so that employees can protect themselves and other stakeholders in a secure
manner.
2.2 Legislation that relates to equality
According to Health and safety at Work 1974, employers of enterprises should protect health,
welfare, and safety at work of all their staffs to improve present working condition of
organisation. Reasonable practice in working environment where safety equipments and perfect
working condition equipments are used in order to raise safety factor of employees in a precise
manner (org.uk, 2019).
As per the Occupiers Liability Act 1984, an injured trespasser can easily claim for their personal
injury and death. As per the section 2(1) of this Act, it has been observed that there are presences
of two types of risk that are: injury occurs due to existence of natural features of river, landscape
and so on (org.uk, 2019). Another injury occurs due to service providers’ careless attitude.
Therefore, claim money for injured person are depends on the risk types. Safety of service users
and employees’ safety are most features for travel and the tourism sector. Both the above-
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mentioned Act guides Tradewinds to modify their employees grooming session so that they can
handle working environment issues and other issues in their working environment according to
its priority.
Data protection, vicarious liability, and duty of care: Travel sector protects all confidential
data and financial information in a secure manner in order to decrease the chance of hackers’
activity. Bagur-Femenías et al. (2015) opined that an appropriate back up plan and advanced
antivirus should be installed in the business in order to decrease breach of data. In case of
vicarious liability, employers are all time responsible for employees’ performance issues and
employers are bound to give compensation against their employees’ performance. This attitude
brings accuracy in tourism sector and employers provide effective training to employees to
increase their performance level in an innovative manner. Digital technology is used by travel
and tourism sector to maximise their communication with all their stakeholders and it guides
employers to track al activities of employees in the working environment. Duty of cares imposed
some obligation to avoid acts that can become injurious for service users. In case of Tradewinds,
HR provides essential information to employees’ based on modern technology to improve their
performance level in the working areas. Additionally, management team should share passwords
only with important people so that they can easily improve their safety and security factor.
Equality concept is essential in tourism sector as it allows employers to recruit right employee
for their vacancy. This Sex discrimination Act 1975 is highly concerned harassment of
employees in the working environment, employees training and education and provisions based
on goods and services along with disposal of premises rare included. Sexual harassment, way of
victimisation, discrimination on grounds of marital status and pregnancy are included in the
section 89(7) of this act (gov.uk, 2019).
According to Employment Protection Act 1978, it has been included that right to perfect
payment irrespective of sex, contract rules and regulation in between employees and employers
are added so that current organisation can increase their employee satisfaction rate. In case of
Tradewinds, higher team follows Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and Employment Protection Act
1975 so that they can modify training session based in employees’ performance level. Perfect
pay scale for employees in the organisation improves employees’ satisfaction rate and it creates a
positive impact on working environment.
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Human rights Act 1998 focuses on human rights that everyone should be treat with equally,
dignity, fairness and respect. Tradewinds implements this Human right Act for improving
tolerance, patience and psychological understanding in between employees and other
stakeholders of organisation.
Conclusion
In this task, equality concept is highly followed by the travel sector so that they can bring
psychological understanding in between service users and providers. Employment protection
legislation protects employees from harassment in their working environment. Data protection
rules are also followed by tourism sector to protect all personal data of employees and other
stakeholders in a perfect manner. Human right Act allows travel sector to provide right payment
to employees based on their performance level and earlier experiences.
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TASK 3 (LO3, AC3.1, 3.2, M1, M2, M3, D1, D2, D3)
LO3: Consumer protection legislation in travel and tourism sector
3.1 Importance of contract legislation in travel and tourism legislation
In the Contracts for supply of goods, contract details are highly applied in a brief manner so that
service users can understand framework of payment clearly. It has been seen that Thomas Cook
provides detail about their service charge to decrease consumer queries about their service.
Contracts for provision of services: In Thomas Cook contract of service provision, job information,
leave policy, employment period, confidential policies are included so that employees’ can
understand working policies of the organisation in a vivid manner.
Contracts related to package holidays: In the package contract, travel organisation prepares visa
and travel insurance for consumers so that they can improve safety and security factor for their
potential users (Downes and Paton, 2010). In addition to it, managers of Thomas Cook provide
information about package contracts and breach of contract details in order to decrease the chance of
consumers’ dissatisfaction level.
Valid contracts: Statuary requirement are included n the valid contract so that consumers can
understand what kind of facilities they will get from the travel sector. Syratt and Archer (2003)
mentioned that contract are enforceable by travel and tourism sector by following all protocol of
business along with Consumer Protection Act to eliminate the chance of breach of contract. In case
of Thomas Cook needs to improve their relationship with all their travel agency and should modify
their contract to enhance their performance level. As per the case scenario, Tourists are not happy
about package tour of Spain due to which they are decreasing their oral advertisement rate and
reducing their identity in recent competitive market.
Unfair contracts: as per the case scenario, wrong information of Thomas Cook based on Spain tour
packages decreases satisfaction rate of service users. Holloway et al (2009) commented that unfair
contract often maximises the chance of governmental penalties and it may have high chance of
cancelation of their service from UK. Therefore, it can be said that higher team of the travel sector
should keep them updated about business protocol before coming into contract to decrease chaotic
attitude from their business.
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Definition of hotel/inn: Hotels and Inns are prepared where travellers can easily seek paid lodging.
It has been seen that tour operators create contract with hotels and inns and prepares their tour
packages’ so that their customers can enjoy tour in a systematic manner (Timothy, 2011).
Hotel Proprietors Act 1956: In this Act, it has been mentioned that hotel proprietor is responsible
for any kind of goods loss or damages of their guest property. Therefore, it can be said that the hotel
proprietor gives effective training to employees and staffs so that they improve security factor of
hotel and its services in a precise manner. Hotel staff calculated all luggages of customers before
check in to decrease the chance of users’ property. In contract with Thomas cook, hotel proprietor
signs the contract by following this Act to increase safety and secure factor of travellers during their
tour. Principles of food hygiene regulations follow Food Act 1984 that control the sale of food and
hygiene of food in a systematic way. Establishment of food premises classification system allows
hotel and hostility industry to sale hygienic food in front of their customers (gov.uk, 2019).
3.2 Consumer Protection legislation in tourism business
Trade Description Act 1968: this act focuses on criminal offences that travel business apply to
improve attraction of customers. Downes and Paton (2010) stated that false description of
business misleads consumers and it hampers their tour in an adverse manner. Trading standard
officers cross check prices and description of travel business to decrease criminal offence in the
tourism and travel business. Thomas Cook implements this Act in their business in order to give
right information to tourist based on their tour packages. Torts of negligence and nuisance are
most issue that Thomas Cook faced due to which they provide wrong information to tourist in their
Spain tour. Lack of effective training mitigates employees’ efficiency and therefore, they cannot
perform their responsibility in an effective manner.
Consumer Protection Act 1987 establishes consumer protection council so that consumers can get
protection and detail advice about the tour. Thomas Cook also follows this Act in order to enhance
their service providing activities in a detailed manner. Consumers’ feedback and disputes are
included in the Act that allows travel sector to understand their present issues of service in a perfect
manner. This Act guides the travel organisation to modify their disputes as per the recent condition of
their issues.
In Package Travel, Package Holidays, and Package Tours Regulations 1992, trading standards and
facilities are included so that tourist can enjoy the tour in right price. It has been seen that consumers
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often operates trust bank account to mitigate the chance of breach of contract and other issues’ when
they are enjoying their holiday or tour. Tour wholesaler must have the certificate of business from
this Act in order to prepare their business arrangements’ in a perfect way.
Duty of care deals with probable risk avoidance steps in order to improve safety and secure factor of
service users. It has been observed that duty of care set some standard based on reasonable care that
guides travel sector to manage tourist issues in an innovative way. When the duty of care is breached,
employer of travel business is the responsible person and they have to give penalty to users based on
their losses.
In this Vicarious liability and ‘Uberrimae Fidei’, it has been included that reinsurer cannot prepare
any kind of duplicate procedures such as claim handling cost, insurer underwriting and so on. In this
liability, insurance contracts are added to improve faith and security factor of tourist sector in the
recent contemporary market. In this section, Common Law principles are included so that tourist
sector can provide appropriate information to their customers based on their tour packages ( Bagur-
Femenías et al., 2015).
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