Holiday package from brochure in AUSTRALIA
INTRODUCTION
A holiday package is an attractive display of vivid details about the deals and other functions and offers and deals provided by the travel agency for the purpose of the general people to consider and opt to plan their trips with the travel agency. The holiday package must be provided by the company or the travel agency and shall be pre-arranged. The tour operator shall be responsible to provide the necessary information about the in relation with the overseas travel and the agency must promote the arrangement of selling or the offering to sell the offers to the general public. The travel agent who works under the travel agency shall help in promoting the said schemes to offer to purchase or sell overseas travel benefits on behalf of the individuals on a commission basis.
A holiday package must essentially contain certain basic ingredients. The primary and the face of the travel schemes and deals are displayed and promoted along with advertisements, vivid descriptions and pictures provided by the tourism company are portrayed in a brochure. A brochure shall not only contain the above mentioned descriptions but also the terms and conditions which to enter into a agreement or the purchaser in agreement of the terms and conditions and purchases the offer on basic of the details mentioned in a brochure, that shall mean a valid contract entered between the tourism agency and the customer or consumer and the consumer shall have the right to hold its rights and obligations and the agency must also comply with the same.
BROCHURE
A brochure shall be considered as the face of the travel agency. The travel agency shall display its offers, schemes and deals which shall be consumer friendly. The consumer shall have an idea about the distinct details of the travel provided by the travel agency. The brochure shall also contain the terms and conditions of the contact which the consumer enters as soon as he purchases the travel deals. The travel agent shall handle the need of every individual needs and provide services as mentioned in the brochure respectively. The abovementioned information provided in a brochure shall be binding on the tour organizer and if the said information are false or misleading under any given circumstances the organizer shall be breach of the terms of the contract herein. In the case a consumer enters into a contract based on the information in the brochure and if those information misrepresenting are and/or misleading the consumer or consumers will have the right to claim damages for the loss done to them or exercise specific performance under contract act (Abrams, 2010)[1].
The essential requirements must be present in a brochure are mentioned herein below:
- The brochure must contain the detains of the price of the offers and other deals.
- The details of the holiday destination and the necessary means of transportation and the transport service providers.
- The detailed description of the location must be given and the attractive sites to be seen.
- Accommodation on the location and its quality must be mentioned.
- The brochure must consist of the details of the meal plans during the course of travel to the consumer or consumers.
- The requirement of passport and visa and the details of the reliability of the same should be provided.
- Health and other safety must be provided under the terms and conditions.
- The cancellation details and the deadlines of the payments must be mentioned in the brochures. The details of the deadlines of the usage of the service providers or the cancellation and its terms of cancellations of trips must also be mentioned.
- The details of the tax and other form other form of taxes and charges must be mentioned.
RULES AND REGULATIONS
The law that governs the licensing system in this particular sphere shall be provided between the travel agents and the tour operator of the travel agency. A holiday package is defined under the Consumer Law and it clearly defines that a holiday package. The holiday package shall mean a pre-arranged holiday tour or excursion which are sold by the travel agent under the name of the travel agency. All the rules and regulations pertaining to the brochures and holiday package shall fall under the Package Holidays and Travel Trade Act, 1995 and the Consumer Laws. Under the holiday package shall contain the important components such as:
- The services with respect to the first two categories.
- Costa and taxes.
The abovementioned arrangements shall be maintained and complied by the travel agent and shall personally comply with the various needs of their clients with regard to accommodations and transpirations and the other various aspects mentioned in the holiday travel packages. The Package Holidays and Travel Trade Act provides the basic provisions which the tour manager and/or the tour organizer be liable for the loss and other breach of the contract terms entered by the consumer in view of the brochure and with regard to the breach committed by the retailed service providers. The tour organizer shall be liable to maintain the rights and obligations in a contract and the consumer shall be liable of the act of the service providers and other suppliers in all the aspects mentioned in a holiday package (Mawrey & Riley-Smith, 2012)[2].
BOOKING A PACKAGE
Booking a holiday package shall mean that a consumer is expressly entering to a contract with the travel agency. This shall constitute a contract of sale between the agreeable parties. The terms and conditions in a holiday package must not be misleading or misrepresenting or any type of false statements to be mentioned under any circumstances. The contract between the consumer and the organizer shall be essentially written and must contain all the essential terms shall formulate a contract. The said contract must contain certain essential ingredients mentioned herein below:
- The total cost and expenses and its necessary details for the same.
- The duration of the stay and the details of the destination mentioned in the contract.
- The transportation details must be mentioned with regard to arrivals and departures and the other service provisions.
- The details of the location and type and form of accommodation must be in compliance with the laws of European Union member state.
- The details of the meal plan and the timings must be mentioned in a contract.
- Provisions for cancellation of the arrangements made by the organizer.
- The said contract must also mention the details of the itineraries and the excursions to be planned.
- All the necessary taxes and other expenses must be mentioned.
- There must be clause that shall mention the method of filing a complaint in case of any breach on the part of the
Before purchasing a holiday package a tour organizer must provide the consumer with additional information. Such as:
- Requirement of passport and visa or any other verifications’ if necessary.
- If travel insurance is required
- If the consumer requires any form of vaccination or medical treatments
MISLEADING INFORMATION
The information in a brochure must not be misleading and on the basis of the misleading information the consumer enters into a contract with the travel agency. In view of the aforesaid information the consumer shall have the right under the consumer law to claim damages and/or compensation for the same and it is the obligation of the tour organizer to compensate the consumer. (Benlist Pty Ltd v Olivetti Australia Pty Ltd) [3]
The general principle of the conduct of the tour organizer shall be misleading and deception shall be observed under the context of which it shall occur. In the case of Parkdale Custom Built Furniture Pty Ltd V Puxu Pty Ltd[4]
Justice Gibbs held that the conduct of the defendant in the above case shall be viewed as a whole but not as a separate act. Certain words or acts shall not be used alone. According to the judge it would be wrong to consider some words and use it as an act to mislead the plaintiff. The context which should be taken as misleading should be taken as a whole present in the brochure, that shall also include advertisements and photographs and other circumstances that shall include in the nature and the transactions and the nature of misleading the parties (Limitada v Nike International Limited)[5].
The said act or conduct that shall be termed as misleading or deceptive shall be viewed under two different prospects. If the said act done intentionally then the act shall not be considered as misleading or deceptive. In the case of Butcher v Lachlan Elder Realty Pty Ltd[6] have described the two different approaches and reasons for a reason one should possess the intention to misleading. It also mentions that the statements are made intentionally to certain class of people, therefore the court shall determine upon which class of people is the statement given. A statement shall be misleading if in the case it is considered as an error or if the certain class of people had been acting on an erroneous assumption ((Campomar Sociedad, Limitada v Nike International Limited)[7].
MISREPRESENTATION OR FALSE REPRESENTATIONS AND UNCONSCIONABLE CONDUCT AND FALSE ADVERTISEMNTS
In a business the travel agent or the organizer must not make false representation about the given information herein below:
- In the case of standard and quality, grade and value of products and services provided.
- The products and services must not be falsely acquired.
- Testimonials obtained by a person with regard to product and services obtained from travel agency.
- Guarantee or warrantee with regard to services or product provided (Downey v Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific Pty Ltd)[8].
Sutton v AJ Thompson Pty Ltd[9]
In the above case the accountant was aware of the false representation made by the travel agency. During the time of the execution of the contract the accountant choose not to clarify to the vendors about the misrepresenting statements made by them. It was considered by the court that the accountant is also liable for the misrepresenting and/or made a false picture done by the company.
The Consumer Protection Laws are responsible to protect the rights of the consumer. False advertisements are also made by the company in their broachers that shall cause the consumer to be mislead and or misrepresent ((Cassidy v NRMA Health Pty Ltd)[10] and ( Gardam v George Wills & C Ltd.)[11].
In the case of Medical Benefits Fund of Australia Ltd v Cassidy[12] the advertising agents had exercised their rights and liabilities as an accessories whereas they were aware of advertisements and the use of advertisements were supposed to be put, but they had no evidence that the agency was aware of those advertisements. That lead in misleading the public. The trial judge had overruled those advertisements excluding the preparations used to prepare the advertisements (Universal Telecasters (Qld) Ltd v Guthrie)[13] and misleading of tax is provided under section 53 (e) of Trade Practice act, 1974 (Argy v Blunts & Lane Cove Real Estate Pty Ltd)[14] and (McWilliams Wines Pty Ltd v McDonalds Systems of Australia Pty Ltd)[15].
CONCLUSION
The contracts entered between the parties shall be governed under the Trade Practice Act, 1974 and the consumer protection act. In case of any breach the consumer shall have the right to claim for damages and loss caused by the company. The Federal Court of Australia (“F/C”) shall have the jurisdiction with matters of Trade Practices Act, also for the case of misleading conduct, representations and statements. The Supreme Courts (“S/C”) of various States have extensive jurisdiction to deal with such cases, and shall also deal with issues pertaining with breach of contract and torts under County or District Courts in each State of Australia.
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