Tourism consumer protection in the European Union and Croatia

The aspects of the tourism market and the changes in consumer preferences among tourists have made package tours the dominant product of the modern tourist market. A package tour consists of a number of goods and services from different providers that must be content harmonized, and spatially and temporally coordinated. The role of intermediation between the numerous providers of tourism products and services (that are an integral part of the package tour) and spatially distant tourist consumers is performed by tour organizers. More specifically, tour organizers are the creators of various modern tourist products that are purchased by tourist consumers. Tour organizers are directly responsible for the performance, but must also guarantee the service quality level of a package tour. However, the fact that tourist consumers on unique package tours consume different goods and services that are not provided by tour organizers, raises the question of taking responsibility, and emphasizes the need for adequate consumer protection on the tourism market. On the other hand, since services can be consumed in several destinations (and in different countries) as part of the same package tour, this points to the need to harmonize national frameworks to protect tourism consumers. The aim of this paper is to explain the circumstances that led to the introduction of unique provisions to protect tourism consumers in the European Union. Comparing the provisions in the field of tourism consumer protection in the European Union with those that are under the jurisdiction of individual member countries will emphasize the need for harmonization of certain regulations, but also present, in the case of Croatia, a concrete solution to the problem of implementing the provisions of European directives in national legislation of the member states in the field of tourism consumer protection.