Extraordinary and Unavoidable Circumstances in Tourism under COVID-19 and Post Pandemic Times—Casus Poland as Example of Sustainability Management

Abstract

The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and should not be taken as reflecting the position of any authority, entity or institution. This article presents the legal status as of 25 June 2022. In accordance with the Directive (EU) 2015/2302 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on package travel and linked travel arrangements, amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 90/314/EEC, tour operators registered in Poland are required to refund payments to travelers in the case of cancellation of their travel package due to extraordinary and unavoidable circumstances within 14 days of its termination. The traveler has the right to terminate the package travel contract before the start of the trip without paying any termination fee in the event of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occurring at the destination or its immediate vicinity and which significantly affect the implementation of the package or the transport of passengers to their final destination. In the case of termination of the package travel contract due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, the traveler is entitled to a full refund of any payments made for the package travel but is not entitled to any additional compensation. The tour operator makes the return within 14 days from the effective termination of the travel contract. In the article we will describe the situation during the COVID-19 pandemic and post-COVID times. The significance and implications of our findings and arguments show how important this is in designing a state’s tourism policy. Targeted aid can be designed well in advance of extraordinary and unavoidable circumstances. In our opinion and the opinions of business practitioners, extraordinary and unavoidable circumstances in tourism occur on average every ten years, e.g., the1992 Yugoslavia war, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, 2010 Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption, and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the research show the effectiveness of legal instruments enacted by the Polish government during the COVID 19 crisis and the war in Ukraine. In the article we use two methods—empirical, related to the authors’ own experience, and dogmatic–exegetical. The empirical research was based on the authors’ experience as those responsible for the implementation of statutory regulations (director in the Ministry of Sport and Tourism and Ministry’s advisor) and on the concept of law as one of the normative systems in society—the operation of law in the sphere of social and economic life, which is tourism. A dogmatic–exegetical method was also used, which allowed for the study of the literature on the subject and the review of legal regulations. In our research, we also used the method of the economic analysis of law (law and economics method). Graphical presentation of the research results and the impact of the introduced support mechanisms on supply and demand indicate the desirability of solutions in this area.