GEBTA wishes to consider this vote on managed business travel as an encouraging step towards the complete exclusion of business travel (both managed and unmanaged) from the Directive.
GEBTA, the Guild of European Business Travel Agents, welcomes the exclusion of managed business travel from the Package Travel Directive, voted on the 12th of March.
The European Parliament, in its vote yesterday 12th of March on Dr Hans Peter Mayer’s Report on the Package Travel Directive, has widely recognised the specificities of Managed Business Travel by excluding them from this consumer focussed piece of legislation. GEBTA welcomes this vote, addressing a long needed clarification in the current legal framework.
GEBTA wishes to consider this vote on managed business travel as an encouraging step towards the complete exclusion of business travel (both managed and unmanaged) from the Directive. GEBTA recalls that there is no reason justifying that this Directive, clearly designed for consumers, should apply to Business to Business transactions.
GEBTA remains concerned about the possibility given to Member States to include business travel within the scope of the Directive. Such measures, even applied by a minority of Member States, would annihilate the efforts made by this Parliament to clarify the status of Business Travel in the EU. Such an approach will also limit cross-border transactions and bring legal uncertainty. Said the President of GEBTA, Ajaya Sodha: “The Package Travel Directive is an important instrument to protect consumers when travelling. But this is a consumer legislation not adapted to B2B relations”.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
