Business travel segment welcomes its exclusion from the Package Travel Directive

The European Business Travel Agents Association (Gebta) has expressed its satisfaction with the European Parliament's decision to exclude managed business travel from the Combined Travel Directive.

The European Business Travel Agencies Association (Gebta) has expressed its satisfaction with the European Parliament's decision to exclude managed business travel from the Combined Travel Directive.

 

In its March 12 vote on the report by Hans Peter Mayer on the Package Travel Directive, the Parliament broadly recognizes the specificities of managed business travel (managed business travel), excluding them from this consumer-centric part of the legislation.

Gebta considers this vote as an encouraging step towards the total exclusion of both managed and unmanaged business travel from the Directive. The association recalls that there is no reason to justify the application of the regulation, clearly designed for consumers, to business-to-business transactions.

However, concerns remain about the possibility given to Member States to include business travel within the scope of the Directive. Such measures, even implemented by a minority of countries,“would negate the efforts made by the Parliament to clarify the status of business travel in the EU, according to Gebta Europe. This approach would also“limit“cross-border transactions and lead to some legal uncertainty”, añade.

For the agency association's rotating president, the British Ajaya Soda, “the Package Travel Directive is an important instrument to protect consumers when traveling, but it is not adapted to B2B relationships".