In the event of improper performance of a package travel contract, a traveller may be fully reimbursed even if certain services have been provided, ruled the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in a judgment handed down on Thursday 23 October (Case C-469/24).
In Poland, two travellers stayed in a luxury hotel in Albania on an all-inclusive basis. During this stay, the swimming pools were demolished, the number of meals was limited and work began on adding a fifth floor. The travellers are requesting a full refund for their trip.
A question has been referred to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling on the interpretation of the Package Travel Directive (2015/2302). According to the Court, a traveller is entitled to a full refund when all services have not been performed or have been performed incorrectly. This is also the case when, despite the provision of certain services, their poor performance is so serious that the tourist stay is objectively no longer of interest to the traveller.
Nevertheless, the Court points out, a traveller is not entitled to compensation if the organiser proves that the non-performance or poor performance of the travel services is attributable to a third party and is unforeseeable or unavoidable.
As to whether the demolition work could be considered ‘an exceptional and unavoidable circumstance’, the European Court was of the opinion that it was necessary to ascertain whether the tour operator and the hotel manager had been informed of the demolition procedure, or had even participated in it. If this is the case, he points out, the demolition of the infrastructure in question cannot be considered unforeseeable.
See the European Court of Justice judgment: https://aeur.eu/f/j3w (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)