Travel agent
A travel agent or travel agent is an economically independent travel agency that provides services of a third party or worried. The services of third parties can include all tourist services, such as package tours or modules that are offered by a tour operator , but also hotel rooms , scheduled flights , travel insurance , rental cars and the like.
General
Travel agency is a commercial designation of a company , travel agents and tour operators are legal and financial distinctivetermsin a travel agency.
Economically independent travel agencies can be conventional, stationary retail travel agencies as well as travel agencies with exclusive internet sales.
Types of travel agents
Legal distinction
With regard to the status of travel agents, a legal distinction is made between:
commercial agent
Commercial agents are travel agents who are mostly bound to tour operators by an agency contract; This bond can play a role in the recommendation of the offer to customers, since on the one hand the travel agent has to meet sales targets from the tour operator, and on the other hand receives better product training from him and the like. a. m .; a travel agent with commercial agent status acts “on behalf of a third party on behalf of a third party”; therefore this travel agent can also be seen as a vicarious agent of the tour operator.
This is an important point in the travel agent's liability to the customer in relation to promises he makes but the travel agent is responsible for. This means that every promise that a travel agent as a commercial agent gives a customer in connection with a booking from a tour operator must also be kept by the tour operator. Even if he never finds out about that promise, he is liable for it under the warranty and / or the law on damages .
Commercial broker
Commercial broker within the meaning of §§ 93 ff. Commercial Code is a travel agency that is not bound by agency contracts to individual, specific tour operators. It can decide more freely in the choice of tour operators that it can convey to its customers. Travel agents with trading broker status broker travel events "in the name of another person and for someone else's account".
This, in turn, is decisive for questions of liability, because in this case the tour operator is not liable for (false) promises made by the travel agent with regard to its travel products to the customer.
Differentiation according to distribution channel
In terms of distribution channels, travel agents are divided into stationary and online travel agents.
Stationary travel agents
Stationary travel agents can be all types of travel agents . Features are given opening times and staff who are available to customers for personal advice and booking either in a restaurant or via communication facilities (telephone, fax, e-mail).
Online travel agent
These are travel agents who act as online travel agents on the Internet. By offering trips via the Internet, online travel agents are not tied to a specific location and offer the customer the advantage that they are not tied to any travel agency opening times.
Insolvency and insolvency insurance
The EU package travel directives of June 13, 1990 (90/314 / EEC, Article 7) stipulate that every tour operator or agent must insure payments made by customers for a trip against insolvency or bankruptcy . A tour operator / travel agent may only accept payments if he has previously given the traveler a security certificate. This also applies when booking a holiday home.
In holiday home tourism, the legislature also regards the status of a tour operator as given even with only one travel service (holiday home). Travel agents who mediate between you and the owner of the holiday home must also insure themselves against bankruptcy. There is no such thing as a power of attorney to collect , unless a security certificate is issued against payment.
Agency contract
An agency contract regulates the rights and obligations between a tour operator and a travel agent. This regulates , among other things, the amount of the performance fee ( commission ), the payment obligations of both contractual partners, what the travel agent has to do or not to do towards the customer as an agent of the tour operator. An agency contract is usually concluded for a period of one financial year. Traditionally, the travel industry has a business year from November 1st to October 31st.
In Switzerland, Art. 418 a) ff. Of the Code of Obligations regulate this agency contract (also for other areas) as a special form of engagement .
Types of travel agent contracts
The traveler can conclude two different contracts with a travel agent:
- a travel agency contract between the traveler and the tour operator ; all essential characteristics of the trip are agreed therein (travel date, type of travel, travel destination, accommodation, meals, travel price, payment modalities);
- a management contract in Germany pursuant to §§ 675, 631ff BGB to which the §§ 651a BGB ( travel contract ) does not apply; In it the travel agent promises the proper mediation to the customer; In Austria, an agency agreement is concluded on the basis of §§ 1002 ff AGB ;
Travel Agent Duties
- Clarification of the customer with regard to his rights and obligations, which may arise with the conclusion of a travel contract (reference to the general terms and conditions of the arranged tour operator, travel insurance company or hotel );
- Advice on the choice of tour operator, destination and type of travel;
- Careful selection of its contractual partners: the law recognizes the duty of care and a travel agent can, under certain conditions, be liable for damages if he does not bring known problems or difficulties of a tour operator he has arranged to the customer before the travel contract is concluded;
- Proper forwarding of the booking to the tour operator: this includes issuing a booking confirmation in accordance with the regulations, forwarding the booking data by telephone or using electronic media (booking systems) of the booking data to the tour operator; Information from the tour operator to the customer; the handing over of travel documents with simultaneous receipt of the remaining payment or payment;
- Representation of the interests of its brokered tour operator partners: a travel agent must not make any commitments to customers that are detrimental or disadvantageous to its commercial owner; he must not intervene in the active formulation of a customer complaint;
A travel agent only has the following obligations under certain conditions:
- Information about entry and foreign exchange regulations, as far as these are made available to him by the organizer or via information systems, especially the TIM (Travel Manual Information, a monthly updated database of airlines and other authorities);
- Reference to the possibility of taking out travel cancellation and health insurance
However, he only has to fulfill both obligations if either no corresponding information can be found in the booking documents (catalog, leaflets etc.) of the tour operator or if he is asked about it by the customer.
A travel agent is not liable for the proper execution of the trip or the provision of the travel services. Therefore, complaints are not to be made to the travel agent, but always to the tour operator.
Rights of a travel agent from an agency contract
- Entitlement to a performance fee ( commission ) from his trading owner (tour operator)
- Entitlement to a commission from the mediated provider (hotel, airline, car rental company, etc.)
- Right to reimbursement of his cash expenses, e.g. B. Communication costs, costs in connection with obtaining a visa; However, these costs must be determinable at the latest when the travel contract is concluded;
Differentiation travel agency as tour operator or travel agent
A travel agency can be a tour operator itself, as well as a travel agent and provider of travel services. Whether it acts as a tour operator or travel agent / procurer depends essentially on how the travel agency acts towards the customer.
It all depends on the perspective of the traveler (§ 651a II BGB). A travel agency must therefore make it clear to the customer that it does not want to provide the services in its own name, but rather that it mediates. If doubts arise from the customer's point of view, the agent is to be regarded as the tour operator, with all legal consequences such as security certificate , fulfillment of EU information obligations, liability for warranty , etc.
For example, doubts can arise or arise when
- the travel documents do not contain a reference to the tour operator 's general travel conditions applicable to the travel contract,
- the name of the actual tour operator is missing in the travel documents,
- the advertisement for a trip is made on your own business paper without reference to the actual tour operator,
- when the travel agency calculates the sales price itself
Taxation of travel agency services
Germany
The gross margin ( margin ) is subject to the standard rate of VAT .
Austria
The Austrian sales tax law (UStG) differentiates between
- Travel procurement: if the tour operator has a registered company headquarters in Austria and the trip is to an EU country, it is referred to as procurement and the discount is subject to margin tax according to the UStG ; this is 20 percent.
Example: An Austrian travel agent arranges a package tour from an Austrian tour operator to Turkey: not an EU country, therefore travel procurement, but not subject to margin tax; An Austrian travel agent arranges a package tour from an Austrian tour operator to Greece: is an EU country, so the trip is subject to margin tax.
- Travel brokerage: if the brokered tour operator does not have a registered company headquarters in Austria, the commission is exempt from sales tax.
Example: An Austrian travel agent arranges a trip from TUI Touristik Union International GmbH Hanover - but not if it is booked from a catalog from TUI Austria because the company is based in Austria.
The Austrian VAT law differentiates between discount and commission .
literature
- Ingrid Bläumauer: Travel law: relationship between tour operator and customer. Orac Verlag, Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-7007-1801-2 .
- Ernst Führich: Travel law: manual of travel contract, travel insurance and individual travel law. 5th edition. C. F. Müller, Heidelberg 2005, ISBN 3-8114-3113-7 .
- Günter Hässel, Jörg Rummel: Taxation, bookkeeping and contract law for travel agencies. With CD. 4th edition. C. H. Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-56637-0 .
Web links
- Taxation of travel services (Austria). Tax platform of the ÖSV Austrian Tax Association.
Individual evidence
- ↑ "The organizer and / or retailer who is a contracting party proves that in the event of insolvency or bankruptcy, the reimbursement of amounts paid and the return of the consumer are guaranteed." Directive 90/314 / EEC on EUR-Lex
- ^ Ernst Führich travel law , 5th edition, CF Müller, Heidelberg 2005, ISBN 3-8114-3113-7
- ↑ Führich travel law , p. 106
