The Package Travel Regulation Guidance - Updated

BEIS has produced an updated version of the PTR guidance for businesses. The new version does not change their interpretation of the legislation but it does contain more case studies on what they believe constitutes a package and what does not. However, in doing this, the revised guidance simply highlights some of the absurdities of the PTRs.

For example:

• If a person books a stay at a spa hotel and undertakes treatments when they are there, that is not a package – but if they book the treatments when they book the stay, that is.
• If a person books a table at the hotel restaurant when they book their stay, this may or may not be a package because no one knows at the time of booking how much they will spend at the restaurant and whether that will exceed 25% of the overall cost of their stay
• A package is created if the customer thinks that the “other tourism service” that the hotel provides (eg., meal, spa treatment, leisure activity, tickets etc) is an essential component of their trip, regardless of whether it less than 25% of the overall cost of the stay

 
 However, there does appear to be a change in regard to Linked Travel Arrangements with the inclusion of a new Case Study:

• A traveller books accommodation on a B&B website. Having done that the traveller clicks through to a page on the B&B’s website called “Local Attractions”. Here, the B&B owner has listed a number of recommended local restaurants, attractions, and ‘things to do’. Inspired by this recommendation, the traveller books tickets to the local theme park. This is neither a package nor a LTA as the B&B owner provided a range of useful information (rather than encouraging the traveller to book in a targeted manner).

 
This is an improvement on BEIS’s previous position which was that the accommodation provider had to provide a comprehensive list of local restaurants, attractions, etc and that providing recommended places constituted forming a Linked Travel Arrangement.
 
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1093536/package-travel-regulations-2018-guidance.pdf
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