Opening the 97th bi-annual meeting of ECTAA yesterday 27 May in Sofia, European Commissioner Meglena Kuneva announced that the work on the revision of the package travel directive will start shortly.

“Dating from 1990, the package travel directive needs to be reviewed to take into account the changes in the distribution of travel products and consumers’ buying habits” said Commissioner Kuneva.

The Commission intends to look into:

• The scope of the directive to clarify uncertainties
• The information requirements of travel organisers
• The need for more price flexibility

Said ECTAA President, Mr. Kelepeshis: “We share the concerns of the Commission to ensure that all traders operate on a level playing field. We strongly recommend that the future package travel legislation covers dynamic packaging and extends the obligation of a financial guaranty to all providers of travel services. However, we believe that travel agents acting as intermediaries should not be held responsible for the package travel product.”

The President confirmed to Ms. Kuneva that ECTAA will actively contribute to the revision process. A legislative proposal is expected for 2010.