Unit 8 Legislation and Ethics in Travel and Tourism Assignment

Program	Diploma in Travel and tourism
Unit Number and Title	Unit 8 Legislation and Ethics in Travel and Tourism
QFC Level	Level 5

Introduction

The legal and regulatory framework of travel and tourism covers so many aspects depending on the different parties involved in it. It falls under the preview of Tourism Act 1969; Travel Act 1985and Package Tour Regulations 1992. There are surface law, sea law and air laws about the carriage of passengers within the legal and regulatory framework. There are also impacts of the principles of health, safety and security legislation on the travel and tourism sector. It falls under the legislation that relates to equality and the contract legislation about travel and tourism customers. Customers are also protected under summer protection legislation about safeguarding the interest of the customers. Travel and tourism businesses cannot only go for profit decision-making. These legislation and ethics in travel and tourism organisations have Corporate Social Responsibilities with the objective to contribute towards betterment of the society. The present study therefore would help us in understanding the various aspects of the travel and tourism industry and the organisations operating within that industry. It will also be beneficial in understanding the rules, regulations and legislations governing the travel and tourism industry in a better way (Mok, Sparks and Kadampully, 2013).

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Task1 Understanding legal & regulatory frameworks in travel & tourism industry

1.1Explaining the legal & regulatory framework of travel & tourism industry

The tourism industry and the legislation are connected in several ways. There are so many parties involved in the tourism industry like suppliers, customers, contractors etc. When these parties interact with one another, the role of legislation becomes significant. If we take the example of a restaurant that serves food to the customers, that falls under the legal and regulatory framework of legislation regarding the factors involved in it like hospitality, food quality, and behaviour of the customers. As the travel and tourism industry is a growing industry, it covers the following under tourism legislation:

• Tourism Act, 1969: This Act focuses on the tourism organisations and their coordination as specified by “British Tourist Authority”

• Transport Act, 1980 & 1985: This Act controls and regulates national & private bus transport companies along with their routes.

• Package Travel & Tour Regulations, 1992: This regulation controls delivering of responsibilities of tour operators to their customers.

The objectives of these legislations were mainly to promote standard procedures to regularise the tourism industry defining the rights and obligations of the parties involved in it. Tourism laws are also affected by “The Health and Safety Commission”,” International Air Transport Association”,” Strategic Rail Authority”,” Civil Aviation Authority”

 

1.2 Discussing laws governing air, surface & sea transport lying within legal & regulatory framework

Air, surface and sea transport lying within legal & regulatory frameworks are governed by surface law, sea law and air law. These laws are discussed below.

• Surface Law: This law is governed by “The International Carriage of Passenger by Road Act, 1979”.It protects the rights of the passengers on board. All the claims related to physical damages or mental disorders of the passengers are taken care of by this law. Loss of luggage of the passengers is also governed by the “Carriage by Railway Act, 1972” (Medlik, 2007). All these laws regulate the transport of goods and passengers. The interests of disabled passengers are also safeguarded by this law.

• Sea Law: Shipping safety and security are covered under this contract law. Environmental factors are also regulated by this law. Seacrafts with at least 12 nos of passengers related to fire safety and lifeguarding equipment are covered under “The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS)”.Liability of the ship or ferry towards damages suffered by it and its extent or limit is governed by “The Athens Convention, 1974”.

• Air Law: the rules of international carriage and its documentation are defined by “The Warsaw Convention of 1929 ”.The passenger’s death compensation and right to claim against personal injury are also covered under this. “The Five Freedoms Agreement of 1944” covers all the rules and regulations related to landing across the territory for traffic, non-traffic, passenger landing, and cargo and specifies its territory.

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Task 2 Understanding prevalent legislations & regulations governing health & safety standards and security parameters in travel & tourism industry

 

2.1 Evaluating the implications of health & safety and security legislations of travel & tourism industry

 

Health, safety and security legislation focuses mainly on the possible hazards in the travel and tourism sector and ensures that the risk of accidents is minimised. The primary objective is to maintain safety in all respects in the working environment. It is the primary responsibility of the employer as well as of the employee to identify in advance if there is any possibility of a hazard in the workplace and report the entire hazard as soon as possible.

“The Health and Safety at Work (HSWA 1974)” specified regulations directed the employers in performing their duties. To ensure proper functioning it has given three options to follow:

(i) Guideline: The Health and Safety Guidance try to find out whether people have knowledge about the prevalent legislation. They also help facilitate people to properly comply with the legislation. It also helps in providing technical assistance for the provisions.

(ii) Approved Code of Practices (ACOP): This relates to the formulation of the Approved Code of Practices (ACOP) regarding hazardous work practices along with hazardous materials. The breach of these codes will make the employer liable. As per ACOP the duties of the employees involved:

• Taking actions to prevent accidents

• Reporting immediately about hazards, actual as well as potential

• Attending training programs related to effective dealing with hazards

(iii) Regulations: It becomes the responsibility of the employer to take care of proper lighting, first aid & other statutory requirements in an accident-prone work environment. Organisations with an employee strength of five should issue written health and safety codes as well as follow the following:

• Recruits are informed about the regulation through proper induction.

• Providing training to existing employees of the organisation to acquire the required knowledge and skills for handling equipment.

• Issuance of notices related to drill mechanism as well as for showing caution signs.

• Mock drills related to fire fighting and evacuation are practised at regular intervals.

• Providing fire and safety-related handbooks to the employees

• Advise sessions are conducted by respective authorities regularly.

 

2.2 Analysing Legislation Concerning Equality

The Equality Act, of 2010 emphasised treating citizens and employees equally without making any discrimination. It also attempts to simplify the law by deleting inconsistencies. It is essentially cumulative of the “Equal Pay Act, 1970; Sex Discrimination Act, 1975; Race Relations Act, 1976; Disability Discrimination Act, 1995; Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations, 2003; Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations, 2003; Employment Equality (Age) Regulations, 2006; Equality Act, 2006; Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations, 2007”.Travel and tourism legislations ensure that tour operators treat every customer equally by making their goods and services available to the customers without any discrimination (Annesley and Gains, 2013).

The Sex Discrimination Act, of 1975 on the other hand safeguards people’s interests against any gender or marriage discrimination related to training & employment education etc. Discriminations made based on race, colour origin etc are prevented by The Race Discrimination Act, of 1976.

Various types of discrimination covered by the above-mentioned legislation include the following:

• Direct Discrimination: It takes place when a person treats others unequally as per set law standards.

• Indirect Discrimination: It is said to exist when certain people groups are deprived of a particular service or facility.

• Perceptive Discrimination: It is based on standard perceptions of discrimination faced by persons.

• Harassment & Disability: Harassment is said to occur when people are subject to unwanted denial on the part of the client, supplier, contractor etc. Disability discriminations are explicitly made based on any disability or dysfunctional body of an individual depriving such person of legitimate goods or services on the part of the tour operators. There are employment tribunals put in place to take care of discrimination and harassment related to legitimate employment-related claims like compensation, retention etc. arising due to any disability. Anyone suffering from any discrimination during a touring period can claim remedial measures as deemed suitable.

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Task 3 Understanding the legislations of consumer protection prevalent in travel & tourism industry

3.1Explain contract legislation in relation to travel and tourism customers

 

There is a binding contract for each tourism company for customers regarding services and charges offered by the company. It ascertains all the conditions related to the detailed specifications of tours such as time of arrival, time of departure, details of destination, charges for stay, etc. If the company fails as per the commitment the consumers may withdraw the acceptance and terminate the contract. Every contract has some standard element. They are as follows:

• Offer: There are two parties in the offer. One is the offeror and the other is the offeree. Offeror makes the offer to the offeree and the offeree accepts the offer. This is a statement of service that is ready to be accepted.

• Acceptance: Hereby the acceptance is confirmed by the offeree. This is when a holiday tour package is purchased by the offeree and becomes the customer after discussing it in detail with the travel agent.

• Consideration: A contract becomes valid and complete only after a certain amount of consideration. It is just an agreement in the absence of consideration and cannot be challenged as per law. For example, in a holiday package, charges demanded by the travel agent can be taken into consideration.

• Capacity: It is the capability to be a party to a legal contract. One should possess a valid age, sound mind, and free intention to be capable as per legislation. For example, a consumer should declare that he/she is 18 years and above before entering into a valid contract enforceable by law.

• Certainty: Both the parties to the contract should be clear about the terms and conditions of the contract otherwise it shall be deemed to be invalid any miscommunication in respect of accommodation for staying in a hotel will make the contract invalid. Therefore a holiday contract should consist of the following:

• Agreement between the parties

• Package details

• Customer’s preference

• Regulation of customer

• Terms and conditions between the parties

• Details regarding the place of stay

• Duration of stay

• Destination

So it is obvious that when a contract is signed between parties regarding accommodation, the conditions should maintain standards of cleanliness under health and safety laws (Cimmino, 2016). 

 

3.2 Explaining consumer protection legislation for customers of the travel and tourism sector

Consumer’s rights and interests are protected by the consumer protection legislation that these are not violated by the travel and tourism agents and business owners.

“The Trade Description Act of 1968 prohibits the false or misleading indicator of prices of goods, services, accommodation and other related services. [Brotherton, (2008)]” Officers of Trading Standards need to inspect for the following:

• Incorrect description related to trade given by the provider

• Offer to provide or supply “any services, facilities or accommodation” based on incorrect trade description

• Incorrect statements about the “ services, facilities or accommodation” by the provider

As per the consumer's right and provider's duty as laid down under “The Consumer Protection Act of 1987” the legal responsibility of the manufacturer is to provide required information regarding the product as stipulated by the country's health and safety laws. It also restricts the unfair business practices along with the following:

• restricts the supply of goods of poor quality

• define product liability

• regulate legal authorities

• illegal price indications restricted

“Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPR)” is another legislation that protects consumer rights by the following controls:

• Authentic charges

• Applicability of the right surcharge

• Availability of room prices

Providing services while renting a room

• Disclosure of price at the bars.

• Minibar Charges

• Charges for swimming pools, gyms etc.

“The Package Travel Regulations of 1992 assure the miscommunication shall be corrected at the end of the service provider on making the necessary arrangements. It explicitly provides the minimum requirement for a contract to be a holiday contract. To be valid it must include two or more facilities such as accommodation, transport or other tourist services”.

Similarly, air travel organisers must have an Aviation Travel Organiser’s License which protects consumers financially through insurance, bonding etc.

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Task 4 Understanding business ethics role prevalent in travel & tourism industry

4.1 Identification and analysis of ethical dilemmas of a large Corporation

The complex nature of the industry of travel & tourism is mainly because there are a lot of factors that are still growing and need to be regulated. Factors such as hospitality, management etc are found to be dependent on several other factors but still are independent of one another. Hospitality is essentially concerned with creating valued relationships and meeting the varied needs and requirements of existing and potential travel and tourism customers. It also involves providing goods and services at the best possible price. There also have been instances of dilemmas of a cross-cultural nature. Political unrest and unstable governments such as Russia, Syria etc also tend to affect the travel and tourism sector concerning a particular tourist location. The negative and unfavourable conditions of such places certainly hinder the growth and development of travel and tourism to a great extent.

Social and cultural elements also tend to affect travel and tourism based on the societies, communities etc of the tourist destinations. Tourism customers are primarily categorised based on their age as well as the economy. Accordingly, countries that are economically weak like Vietnam, Bangladesh etc tend to facilitate travel and tourism by providing convenient visas without much documentation. Conversely, stronger economies such as the USA, UK etc that are guided by stringent travel and tourism rules and regulations involve hefty documentation along with lengthy paperwork for visa permits.

Recent studies show that dilemmas affecting the travel and tourism sector mainly revolve around bribery and corruption, gender discrimination, sexual harassment, causing harm to natural resources, sale of unhealthy food etc. Corruption essentially involves bribery, extortion etc.

Most countries have legislation to help facilitate the rights of women in the workplace ensuring equal opportunity in employment. However, the recent enactment of the “Equal Treatment of Men and Women Act” has resulted in certain cases of violation of equal opportunity in employment.

It has also been found that there has been a considerable increase in the number of child labourers used for the purpose of employment in most developing countries. Such employment is mainly in the form of helpers, cleaners, workers etc. An increase in the unemployment rate, poverty and lack of social security have been the reasons behind the growing number of child labourers across the globe.

Moreover, child trafficking, pornography etc that are illegal in the eye of the law in developing countries are on the rise.

 

4.2 Analysis of CSR Activities of the Corporation

Business organisations adopt some social strategies as a service towards the community. This is what we generally call Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR. “It refers to activities such as Environmental protection, equal opportunity, and practising sustainable development (Crane et. al., 2010)”.Tourism organisations may contact the local authorities to know their requirements and thus business organisation can define their responsibility towards society. Tourism businesses can set their objectives to conserve heritage, environmental sources and other social valuables towards delivering their Corporate Social Responsibility. Their primary objective should be to preserve natural resources and therefore encourage travel and tourism. Along with their business objectives they should also be engaged in philanthropy for charity purposes. So, Corporate Social Responsibility may include giving protection to endangered wildlife, and promoting cost-effective rates to the travel and tourism consumers taking care of “social and cultural values”. To fulfil this responsibility any business would require the engagement of employees and funds for charitable purposes. In the present phase of globalisation, the organisation has to deliver Corporate Social Responsibilities to sustain the society and contribute to its betterment. In the context of the present task, we can give an example of a large Corporation like Thomas Cook. “Thomas Cook has been the first one to create the concept of a package holiday to promote social responsibility and they claim to be as inspiring today as well. Thomas Cook has developed a separate code of conduct to promote the said activities to contribute towards the community. The company observed an increase of 80% in Local Label sustainable excursions in the year 2014. The company also launched a One Million Heats Programme to promote the relationship between the employees and the customers. It has become a leaner and innovative business by reducing wastage making it more efficient by 35%. The company had set a certain target in 2010, under a 10-year plan which the following steps have been taken are employee engagement, using consumer campaigns like, Travel Foundation’s Make Holidays Greener promoting charity and raising funds [European Cities Marketing, 2015]”.

Conclusion

 

In the context of the present study, it can be summed up that important issues relating to health and safety along with security concerning a country involving the protection of services related to accommodation as well as other associated services should be made a priority for tour operators, tourism and travel providers. The travel and tourism regulations and legislations are found to treat all equally without making any discrimination based on gender, age, religion etc. The mechanism of decision-making is found to be impacted by ethical dilemmas applicable to a particular situation. Ethics dealt in this study can be in the form of business, marketing as well as accounting in nature. Therefore, proper knowledge of ethical dilemmas can also affect decision-making in the travel and tourism industry to a considerable amount. Like any other industry, the travel and tourism industry also needs to follow the path of sustainable development for effective growth and success. Corporate Social Responsibility can be an effective means through which travel and tourism organisations can achieve sustainable development for their overall well-being (Clift and Page, 2)

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