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Customer Protection |
Customer Protection
Since 1996, the Law on Travel Related Activities has been applied. It contains the EU Council’s Directive on package travel, package holidays and package tours, which means that foreign tour operators and their clients are similarly protected in Croatia like in the EU countries which act in accordance with these directives. All buyers of products and services, including travellers, are also protected by the the Customer Protection Act and the Civil Obligatons Act.
If the foreign visitor has purchased the service (package tour, cruise, package holiday) from an agency in his county or in Croaia in a “ real “ travel office or via the Internet, and the service does not correspond to the contracted service, the visitor should immediately complain to the representative of the tour organizer or to the service supplier (accommodation, food, transport, etc.). If the problem is not dealt with on the spot, the visitor should get a receipt about his complaint, and should complain to the tour organizer within 8 days. The organizer is obliged to answer within two weeks. In case of dispute, the aggrieved party can refer to the UHPA Court of Arbitration (if the tour operator is UHPA member) or to the court in the local tour organizer’s seat and Croatian laws shall be applied.
UHPA members are bound by the UHPA arbitration. This fact has to be mentioned in general terms and conditions which shall be given to all travellers when buying and contracting the travel. UHPA members are also bound that they shall not publish travel conditions more restrictive for travellers than those published by UHPA. In case the agency has not fully or has only partly realised the package or has realised it in a manner which has not been contracted (e.g. accommodation in a hotel with fewer stars) and the traveller cannot reach an agreement about indemnity, the traveller can refer to the UHPA office which will provide him with an appropriate arbitration form. Having determined the reason and the amount of the claim, both the damaged party and the agency shall pay the charge for the arbitration committee. The winning party will be refunded the amount, and if the winning party is a traveller, the agency is obliged to refund the amount of unused service.
The agency is obliged to insert its licence number (identification code) on every document to enable customers to identify the services it is licensed to perform. The retail agency, has to publicise the data of the responsible tour operator.
In any case, in the part of their activity which provides package holiday service, the travel agency must provide all services to each and every client who has paid for the holiday, or compensate for the costs incurred in case the services were not provided due to the agency bankruptcy. For that purpose the tour operator is obliged to provide a guarantee in the form of insurance policy, cash deposit or bank guarantee for every package holiday. In order to ensure the high professional level of the staff and services, the Law stipulates that an agency can have the operating licence only if it employs at least one office manager who has passed a special examination on the subject matter defined by the Ministry of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development in a special regulation. The Law and special regulations also define minimum technical conditions of business premises for the agencies, their equipment and the way of providing services of the agencies and the complaints book.
The Law also defines the compulsory contents of the program, prospectus or catalogue of the package tour or holiday. The travel agency providing the services of a package tour, excursion program or passenger transfer is obliged to use the means of transport in which the passengers and their luggage are insured, and the catering facilities in which the service users are insured. Pursuant to the provisions of the Law on Travel Related Services, when selling package a tour or holiday, the agency is obliged to offer the insurance against travel cancellation, accident insurance, death insurance and baggage insurance to all travellers, both Croatian and foreign.
When selling a package tour or holiday directly to a foreign traveller, the agency is obliged to offer health insurance in Croatia and to Croatian travellers such insurance for other counties While travelling or during their stay in Croatia, an organized group of 15 to 75 tourists must have at least one tour leader – whether coming with the group from the foreign country or engaged while in Croatia. In both cases the tour leader has to fulfil the requirements to be a tour leader prescribed in his own country.
The Law on Travel Related Activities also defines inspection and penalty provisions. The inspection is done by the state inspectors specialised in tourist and catering services.
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For Tourists
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