Unit 8: Legislation and Ethics in Travel And Tourism

Legislations and regulations are important in every sector and travel and tourism sector is no exception. They help in governing the travel agencies and organisations. These may consist of health and safety, discrimination, consumer protection, environmental protection, and many more. These are necessary for smooth-functioning of system. In this report, the legal and regulatory framework of tourism sector is explained thoroughly. Moreover, laws regarding surface, sea, and airport transportation in accordance with the carriage of travellers is enlisted and discussed. In the second section, the impact of the health and safety regulation on the sector is elaborated along with the equality law. Third section emphasises on the importance of contract and consumer protection law in the travel and tourism industry. The last section talks about the ethical dilemmas of travel and tourism sector. In addition to this, the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility is also explained.

LO1- Understanding legal & regulatory frameworks in travel & tourism industry

1.1. Explain the legal and regulatory framework of the travel and tourism sector

Introduction

The basic idea behind composing this leaflet is to elaborate various legislation and regulatory framework important for the businesses in the tour and travel sector.

Importance of Legal Framework

Legislations are enacted by the member of the Parliament or the governing body of a country. On the other hand, regulations are used to monitor and enforce legislation. Like any other industry, tourism sector also has stakeholders, such as buyers, sellers, suppliers, agents, business corporations, consumers, and so forth. Legislation is important to carry out business activities among these stakeholders. The business cycle is characterised by a wide range of factors, namely consumer behaviour, hospitality, quality standards, etc., that are governed by various laws.

The legal system helps in removing the uncertainties and risk factors, thereby help the businesses to operate at their potential. The legal system governs the decision-making process, whereas the regulatory framework enforces the legislation in the tourism sector.

The legislation that are applicable on the travel and tourism sector are explained below:-

Development of Tourism Act, 1969: This act was implemented by the British Tourist Authority. The Act emphasises on enhancing the coordination among the stakeholders of the tourism sector.

Transport Act 1980 and 1985: The first act of 1980 was introduced by the government of Margaret Thatcher that deregulated the coach services in the UK and empowered authorities to deregulate bus services on trial basis.

Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992: This law defines and form a framework for tour agencies and holiday planners. They are liable to follow them and these rules governs the terms and conditions given in the tour package (Peralta, 2014).

On the other hand, some regulations are also discussed in here.

International Air Transport Association: It governs the rules and regulations regarding the air transport of a nation.

Health and Safety Commission: It formulates and updates the laws regarding health and safety of all the stakeholders.

Civil Aviation Authority: It regulate and updates the legislations regarding the air transport safety and airspace usage.

Conclusion

This leaflet elaborated various legislation and regulatory framework important for the businesses in the tour and travel sector.

1.2. Discuss surface, sea and air transport law in relation to the carriage of passengers within the legal and regulatory framework

Introduction

In this leaflet, the legislations and rules that are developed for surface, sea, and air transportation mode in reference to the passengers are discussed within legal framework.

Importance of Transport Law

Transportation laws are developed by the authority that governs a particular mode of transport. These laws can be derived from federal, state, or local bodies, and can be applied at a wider range of transport system (Peralta, 2014).

The legislations for surface, sea, and air transport are explained below in this section

Surface Transport: Laws for surface transport are developed, modified, and governed by the International Carriage of Passenger by Road Act, 1979. The law safeguards the passengers against any mishap while travelling. As per the present rule, the claim can be asked for any loss of luggage, physical or mental suffering or any kind of damages. It also protects the rights of the disabled persons.

Sea Transport: The legislations are formulated by the United Nation’s International Maritime Organisation. The aim is to provide safety and protection to the shipping. In addition to this, it ensures that the shipping activities do not harm the environment. The Athens Convention 1974 ensures that passengers travelling via ship do not suffer any damages, and in case of mishap, the carrier party is liable to pay for the damages. Apart from this, the International Convention of the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) directs the carrier firms to keep checking the functionality of fire protection systems.

Air Law: Air transportation system is governed by a wide range of legislation. The first one is Warsaw Convention 1929 that formulate and develop the regulations regarding the documents of the carriage (Bartsch, 2016). It also directs the company to pay for any damage or personal injury. Other legislation is Five Freedom Agreement 1944 that regulates the laws regarding the cross-border voyage without landing, de-boarding passengers, mail, or cargo. There is another legislation called the Denied Boarding Compensation Schemes (EU) 1977.

Conclusion

This leaflet elaborated the legislations for sea, surface, and air transport in reference to the carriage passenger.

LO2: Understanding the legislation related to health, safety, and security in the travel and tourism sector.

Executive Summary

In this section, the health, safety, and security measures and legislation was talked about. Different legislations, such as Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Data Protection Act 1998, Occupiers Liability Act 1984, and so forth were highlighted. Apart from this, the Equality Act 2010 was also talked about in context of travel and tourism sector. In addition to this, the impact of regulations and legislations were also elaborated.

Introduction

Legislations are vital in governing the travel and tourism sector. In this report the health, safety, and security measures and legislations are discussed. Apart from this, the Equality Act 2010 is also talked about in context of travel and tourism sector. In addition to this, the impact of regulations and legislations are also elaborated.

2.1 Evaluate the impacts of the principles of health, safety and security legislation on the travel and tourism sector

The primary purpose of the legislation is to govern the functioning of travel and tourism sector by providing standards and policies for the same. Hazards can occur anytime and anywhere in the travel and tourism industry. It is the prime responsibility of the employers to carry out risk assessment on regular basis and to maintain the safety features within the work premises. The health and safety regulations keep a check on whether or not the working environment is safe and harmless for the workers and the employers as well (Lunt, et.al, 2013).

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 obligates the employers to provide the safest working area in order to discard any chance of personal injury. The HSWA 1974 directs the businesses to carry out their duties towards the customers and their employees as well. In the UK, the tourism industry aims at providing the safest accommodation and services by formulating some standards that are to be followed by the service provider. The Health and Safety Commission keeps checking and analysing the current legislation and carry out research to update them. This help in improvising the current laws, thereby helping the tourism industry to operate safely against the emerging risks. The employer’s duties involve as directed by the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) are mentioned here (Lunt, et.al, 2013). First, providing proper lighting and heating in the premises. Second, identifying and reporting potential hazards. Third, providing training to the employees regularly.

2.2 Analyse legislation that relates to equality

Every industry has to follow certain basic legislations and Equality Act 2010 is one of them. Every employee has a right to be treated equally. The Act directs and obligates the businesses to not to discriminate any one on the basis of gender, age, race, income, social status, pregnancy, or disability. This act not only safeguards the employee but it also protects the rights of the tourist from getting discriminated. It has been found in previous cases that hotels have denied their services or have provided poor services to their patrons because of their race (Duggan, 2012).

Earlier, there were individual acts for different types of discrimination, namely Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Equal Pay Act 1970, Race Relations Act 1976, Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and so forth. The Equality Act 2010 has simplified the laws by discarding inconsistencies. It is an umbrella for all the aforementioned laws and covers each of them thoroughly. It also safeguards the rights of the disables by making discrimination on the basis of disability an unlawful deed. It obligates and directs the employers to make certain adjustments in the job for the disable in order to make them compete against the normal employee.

To protect the discriminated employees or guests, a tribunal has been established. Anyone who has suffered any kind of discrimination, such as direct, indirect, perceptive, harassment, and disability can claim retention or compensation.

Conclusion

In this section, the legal and regulatory framework related to health, safety, and security along with the equality law was discussed thoroughly.

LO3- Understanding the legislations of consumer protection prevalent in travel & tourism industry

3.1. Explain contract legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers

Introduction

The key idea that is reflecting in this leaflet is to explain contract legislation in travel and tourism sectors with respect to consumers. Importance of Contract Law

Contracts and agreement laws are quite perplexing as the terms can be modified on a daily basis. Contracts and agreements are the formal written documents that contain terms and conditions on which both the parties agreed mutually. When a travel agency offers add-on services in a holiday package, both parties should be agreed on the price of the add-on services in the package (Bar-Gill, 2012). If in any case, one party ends the agreement without following the conditions in the agreement, then the party that breaks the laws will have to pay the fines and penalties to the other party.

Termination of the contract

There are numerous ways to terminate the contract as enlisted below:-

By mutual consent of the parties involved.

If any party passes away, then it would end the contract.

Failure of any terms and conditions attached to the offer.

Contract for Tour Package

The contract on holiday packages is formed when customers state their demands and the travel agent ensures that their demands get fulfilled. Once the demands of the customers meet and both parties agree on the type of package, the operator makes sure that the services are provided. Under the Package Holiday Regulation 1992, it is stated that a package should comprise at least two services for being called as holiday package. Apart from this there are certain other conditions that are given in the contract law.

Elements of Contracts

Offers

Acceptance

Consideration

Capacity

Certainty

Conclusion

This leaflet elaborated various legislation and regulatory framework defined under contract law in the tour and travel sector.

3.2- Explain consumer protection legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers

Introduction

The key idea that is reflecting in this leaflet is to explain different legislations to protect consumers against elicit practices in the tour and travel sector.

Importance of Consumer Protection Law:

The consumer protection legislations deal with false and misleading statements made by the tour and travel agencies. It safeguards the consumers against agreement breach. Organisations within the tourism sector will need to operate as per the directions of consumer protection laws. These legislations ensure that travel businesses do not provide false or misleading information to their customers.

Trade Description Act 1968

It is a vital act for consumers who are victims of misleading descriptions. This act put serious consequences on the businesses for giving false statements to consumers. The penalties for misleading advertisement are fine and imprisonment.

Consumer Protection Act 1987

It safeguards the consumers against the misleading pricing strategies used by the businesses. The product can be goods or services. In simple words, if a customer is charged more than what is mentioned in the tour package, then this is a breach of consumer protection act. There are certain penalties depending upon the situation.

The aforementioned legislations are now brought in single legislation which is called as Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPR).

Conclusion

The purpose of this leaflet was to explain different legislations to protect consumers against elicit practices in the tour and travel sector.

LO4- Understanding business ethics role prevalent in travel & tourism industry

Executive Summary

Every industry faces problems and ethical issues and travel and tourism industry is no exception. In this report, some ethical dilemmas that the travel and tourism sector faces were discussed. Apart from this, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy of Thomas Cook was analysed in this section.

Introduction

The role of this report is to discuss and understand the business ethics in tourism industry. Here, the ethical dilemma a travel and tourism industry faces is talked about. In addition to this, the CSR policies of Thomas Cook are elaborated.

4.1 Analyse ethical dilemmas faced by the travel and tourism sector

As the tourism industry is rapidly growing, the demand for ethics in travel has got high attention from the organisations and voyagers as well. The management of Thomas Cook has identified several ethical dilemmas that the current tourism sector is facing. These issues include the green issues, environmental degradation, terrorism, employment issues, and child labour. Apart from this, the type of tourism is also a big challenge for this sector to tackle. For instance, the tourism sector handled by the mass market is the most damaging type. The enclave tourism is also being opposed by wide range of communities. Political instability and unrest in countries like Russia, Pakistan, Syria, etc., also affect the growth of tourism.

Lack of effective government institution and think tank affect adversely the policy-making process regarding the tour and travel sector. Women safety is one such unfavourable condition that hinders the tourism influx in the country. In addition to this, social and cultural elements also hinder the tourism sector. Discrimination, unemployment, child labour, sexual harassment, environmental degradation, corruption, bribery, sanitation and so forth are some ethical dilemmas. The ease of obtaining a travel visa also affects the tourism influx. This is usually a case in countries, such as India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, etc. The case is converse in the developed countries like the UK, USA, etc. Having a low literacy rate also affects the tourism sector. This results in child labour and high unemployment and poverty condition.

4.2 Analyse the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy of a specified travel and tourism business

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the social approaches adopted by the organisations in order to contribute to the development of the society. Usually, CSR policies emphasise aspects, such as sustainable development, environmental protection, and equal opportunities. Organisations like Thomas Cook often join hands with the local communities in order to determine their needs and identify ways to fulfil them at the earliest. The main aim of CSR is to look towards the available social, environmental, and cultural resources so as to avoid the exploitation of biodiversity and other cultural heritages (Armstrong and Green, 2013).

Thomas Cook thinks that adopting CSR policies is the only way to be called as ethical organisation in the business world. CSR depends upon a question that focuses on “good business, for a good society”. CSR policies do not aim at spending large chunks of money on the society but on how organisations make their profits (Agnihotri and Bhattacharya, 2016). For this purpose, employees with high integrity and well-efficient organisational structures are needed. Thomas Cook has a strong sustainable policy that complies with the objectives of the corporate social responsibility. The company emphasises on the different possible impacts. The organisation is obligated to provide jobs in the local community. The organisation is trying to take organisation and local community’s growth together.

Apart from this, the organisation targets three important areas in its 10 year plan. First, to improve the employee engagement by making them understand that company is working towards the betterment of the society. Second, to campaign about company’s sustainable development policies. Third policy is about promoting charity and fund raising for the development of local community.

Conclusion

In this report, some ethical dilemmas that the travel and tourism sector faces were discussed. Apart from this, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy of Thomas Cook was analysed in this section.

Conclusion

References

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