Tourism Law in Europe

19 the management of cancellations and the renegotiation of contracts is already engaging operators beyond the prospect of a real economic result 32 . However, environmental, economic and social sustainability remains at the top of the legal agenda – in the perspective outlined by the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda, which still awaits a tangible and effective response at the national level. Tourism – and thus tourism law – has recently been confronted with the digital revolution, having become a mass phenomenon when the Internet was launched and improved. We had just got used to accepting the triangular structure of travelling (the traveller, the travel and the tourist agency, and the tourism service provider) when this geometric configuration was transformed by digital “disruptive innovation”. Tourists have been organising their trips through the Internet more frequently, in such a way that the relationship between tourists and tourism service providers has changed profoundly. Tourism lawmust comply with the increasingly important role played by online platforms. In this respect too, tourism is profoundly changing its shape. Finally, the international dimension will increasingly affect the development of tourism law. By its very nature, tourism and tourism law have always had a natural supranational vocation, yet this structural characteristic is now enhanced by the scale of the phenomenon, to the point that it deeply affects the law as well. It is no coincidence that the UNWTO General Assembly officially adopted the 2019 International Convention on Tourism Ethics, a major step towards making the global tourism industry fairer, more ethical and more transparent. This has recently been complemented by the 2021 UNWTO Recommendations for the assistance to international tourists in emergency situations , addressed to the Member States to support governments and the private sector in their efforts for international tourism recovery (in the framework of the COVID-19 pandemic), 32 Among the most significant measures adopted in Italy, there is Decree-Law no. 18 of 17 March 2020, converted into Law no. 27 of 24 April 2020, of which article 88- bis focused on the issue of “Reimbursement of travel, accommodation and package travel tickets”. It was later amended by Decree-Law no. 34 of 19 May 2020 (the so-called “Relaunch” Decree), converted into Law no. 77 of 17 July 2020, on urgent measures on health, labour and economic support, aligning with the provisions provided by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and the European Commission. In a nutshell, considering that there is a supervening impossibility of performance pursuant to article 1463 of the Civil Code, the carrier, the manager of the accommodation facility or the organiser of the tourist packages have been given the right to offer the passengers, guests or travellers a voucher as an alternative to the refund of the consideration paid, to be used within 18 months of issue.