General Terms and Conditions of Contract for the Sale of Package Travel

1. INTRODUCTION. DEFINITION OF PACKAGE TRAVEL

Whereas: a) d. lgs 111/95 (implementing Dir. 90/314/CE) provides for consumer protection that the organiser and seller of the package holiday to whom the consumer applies must hold the administrative authorisation to conduct their activities (art. 3/1 lett. a d.lgs. 111/95). b) the consumer has the right to receive a copy of the contract for the sale of the package holiday (pursuant to art. 6 del d. lgs. 111/95), which is an essential document to access, where applicable, the Guarantee Fund referred to in art. 18 of these General Terms and Conditions of Contract. The definition of 'package holiday' (art.2/1 d.lgs. 111/95) is as follows: package holidays cover trips, holidays, and 'all-inclusive' tours resulting from the pre-arranged combination of at least two of the elements listed below, sold or offered for sale at an inclusive price, and of a duration exceeding 24 hours or covering a period of time comprising at least one overnight stay: a) transport; b) accommodation; c) tourist services not ancillary to transport or accommodation (omissis) ....... that constitute a significant proportion of the 'package holiday'.

2. LEGISLATIVE SOURCES

The purchase and sale of a package holiday, whether concerning services to be provided nationally or abroad, shall be governed by L. 27/12/1977 n°1084 ratifying and executing the International Convention on Travel Contracts (CCV) signed in Brussels on 23.4.1970 in so far as applicable, as well as by D. Lgs. 111 /95.

3. MANDATORY INFORMATION - TECHNICAL DATA SHEET

The organiser is required to provide a technical data sheet in the brochure or in the tailor-made/off-brochure programme. The mandatory elements to be included in the technical data sheet of the brochure or off-brochure programme are: - details of the organiser's administrative authorisation; - details of the civil liability insurance policy; - period of validity of the brochure, off-brochure programme, or custom-made trip; - procedures and conditions for substitution (Art. 10 D. Lgs. 111/95); - reference exchange rate for the purposes of currency adjustments, date or rate.

4. BOOKINGS

The booking request must be drawn up on an appropriate contract form, electronic where applicable, completed in every part and signed by the customer, who shall receive a copy. Acceptance of bookings is deemed finalized, and the contract consequently concluded, only when the organiser sends the relevant confirmation, including by electronic communication, to the customer via the selling travel agency. Information relating to the package holiday not contained in the contract documents, brochures, or other written communication media shall be provided by the organiser in due fulfilment of the obligations incumbent upon it under Decr. Legisl. 111/95 in good time before the start of the trip.

5. PAYMENTS

The amount of the deposit, up to a maximum of 25% of the price of the package holiday, to be paid upon booking or upon submitting a binding request, and the date by which the balance must be paid prior to departure, are set out in the brochure, leaflet, or equivalent material. Failure to pay the above sums by the established dates constitutes an express termination clause entitling the intermediary agency and/or the organiser to terminate the contract by operation of law.

6. PRICE

The price of the package holiday is set out in the contract, by reference to the details given in the brochure or off-brochure programme and any subsequent updates to such brochures or off-brochure programmes. It may be altered up to 20 days prior to departure and solely as a consequence of variations in: - transport costs, including fuel costs; - dues and taxes on certain types of travel services, such as duties, landing, disembarkation or embarkation fees in ports and airports; - exchange rates applied to the package in question. For such variations, reference shall be made to the exchange rates and aforementioned costs in force on the publication date of the programme as stated in the brochure's technical data sheet, or on the date stated in any subsequent updates mentioned above. Fluctuations will affect the inclusive price of the package holiday by the percentage expressly indicated in the technical data sheet of the brochure or off-brochure programme.

7. AMENDMENT OR CANCELLATION OF THE PACKAGE HOLIDAY BEFORE DEPARTURE

Prior to departure, any organiser or seller that needs to alter significantly one or more elements of the contract shall give immediate written notice to the consumer, stating the type of change and the resulting price variation. If the consumer does not accept the proposed amendment referred to in paragraph 1, they may alternatively exercise the right to recover the sum already paid or take advantage of an alternative replacement package holiday pursuant to the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs of Article 8. The consumer cannot exercise the above rights where cancellation depends on the failure to reach the minimum number of participants specified in the brochure or off-brochure programme, or on cases of force majeure and fortuitous event relating to the package holiday purchased. In the event of cancellation by the consumer, the cancellation fee/refund rules set out in the travel contract sent to the consumer shall prevail. Under no circumstances may airfares and any cancellation insurance policy taken out be refunded; these amounts must therefore always be deducted from the total sum on which the relevant refundable percentage indicated in the travel contract is calculated.

8. WITHDRAWAL BY THE CONSUMER

The consumer may withdraw from the contract without paying penalties in the following circumstances: - an increase in the price referred to in the preceding Article 6 exceeding 10%; - significant alteration of one or more elements of the contract objectively deemed essential to the enjoyment of the package holiday as a whole, proposed by the organiser after the conclusion of the contract but prior to departure and not accepted by the consumer. In the cases above, the consumer is alternatively entitled: - to take an alternative package holiday, without price supplement or with a refund of the excess price if the second package holiday is of lower value than the first; - to a refund of only that part of the price already paid. Such refund must be made within seven working days of receiving the refund request. The consumer must notify their decision (to accept the amendment or withdraw) no later than two working days from the moment they receive notice of the price increase or alteration. Failing express notice within the aforesaid period, the proposal put forward by the organiser shall be deemed accepted. A consumer who withdraws from the contract prior to departure outside the circumstances listed in the first paragraph shall be charged—irrespective of the payment of the deposit referred to in art. 5/1° comma—the individual file management fee, the penalty in the amount specified in this contract, and any premium for insurance cover already requested at the time of concluding the contract or for other services already rendered. In the case of pre-formed groups, such sums shall be agreed from time to time upon signing the contract.

9. AMENDMENTS AFTER DEPARTURE

If, after departure, the organiser is unable to provide for any reason, except through the consumer's own act, an essential part of the services contemplated in the contract, it must arrange alternative solutions without price supplements to be borne by the customer, and if the services provided are of lower value than those agreed, refund the customer an amount equal to that difference. If no alternative solution is possible, or if the solution arranged by the organiser is refused by the consumer on serious and justified grounds, the organiser shall provide, without price supplement, equivalent transport to that originally scheduled for the return to the place of departure or to such other place as may be agreed, subject to the availability of transport and seating, and shall refund the consumer the difference between the cost of the planned services and that of the services performed up to the time of early return.

10. SUBSTITUTIONS

A customer withdrawing from the trip may be substituted by another person provided that: a. the organiser is informed in writing at least 4 working days before the scheduled departure date, receiving at the same time notice of the personal details of the transferee; b. the substitute satisfies all conditions for the use of the service (ex art. 10 d.lgs.111/95) and in particular the requirements concerning passports, visas, and health certificates; c. the substitute reimburses the organiser for all additional costs incurred in carrying out the substitution in the amount quantified prior to the transfer. The transferor and transferee are jointly and severally liable for payment of the balance of the price as well as the amounts referred to in point c) of this Article. Further conditions and arrangements for substitution are set out in the technical data sheet.

11. OBLIGATIONS OF PARTICIPANTS

Participants must be in possession of an individual passport or other valid document for all countries included in the itinerary, as well as any transit and residence visas and health certificates that may be required. They must also abide by the rules of ordinary prudence and diligence and the specific regulations in force in the travel destination countries, follow all information provided to them by the organiser, and comply with all regulations and administrative or statutory provisions relating to the package holiday. Participants shall be held liable for any damages that the organiser may suffer as a result of their breach of the aforementioned obligations. The consumer is required to provide the organiser with all documents, information, and details in their possession useful for the organiser to exercise its right of subrogation against third parties liable for the damage, and is responsible to the organiser for any prejudice caused to the right of subrogation. The consumer shall also notify the organiser in writing, at the time of booking, of any particular personal requests that may form the subject of specific agreements regarding travel arrangements, provided that their implementation is feasible.

12. HOTEL CLASSIFICATION

The official classification of hotel establishments is provided in the brochure or other informational material solely on the basis of express and formal indications issued by the competent authorities of the country in which the service is delivered. In the absence of official classifications recognised by the competent public authorities of the countries (including EU member states) to which the service relates, the organiser reserves the right to provide its own description of the accommodation establishment in the brochure or leaflet, such as to enable assessment and subsequent acceptance thereof by the consumer.

13. LIABILITY REGIME

The organiser is liable for damages caused to the consumer as a result of total or partial failure to perform the contractual services due, whether performed by the organiser personally or by third-party service providers, unless it proves that the event arose from an act of the consumer (including initiatives independently taken by the latter during the performance of the tourist services) or from circumstances external to the provision of the services stipulated in the contract, a fortuitous event, force majeure, or circumstances that the organiser itself could not, according to professional diligence, reasonably foresee or resolve. The seller with whom the package holiday was booked shall in no case be liable for obligations arising from the organisation of the trip, but is liable solely for obligations arising from its capacity as an intermediary and in any event within the limits established for such liability by the applicable statutory provisions.

14. LIMITS OF COMPENSATION

Compensation for personal injury may not in any case exceed the limits laid down by the international conventions to which Italy and the European Union are party with reference to the services whose non-performance gave rise to liability. In any event, the limit of compensation may not exceed the amount of 50,000 Germinal Gold Francs for personal injury, 2,000 Germinal Gold Francs for property damage, and 5,000 Germinal Gold Francs for any other damage (art. 13 n° 2 CCV).

15. DUTY OF ASSISTANCE

The organiser is required to provide assistance measures to the consumer as imposed by the standard of professional diligence exclusively in relation to the obligations incumbent upon it by operation of law or contract. The organiser and seller are exempt from their respective liabilities (artt. 13 e 14) when the non-performance or improper performance of the contract is attributable to the consumer or is due to an unforeseeable or unavoidable act of a third party, or to a fortuitous event or force majeure.

16. COMPLAINTS AND CLAIMS

Any failure in the performance of the contract must be contested by the consumer without delay so that the organiser, its local representative, or the tour leader may promptly remedy it. The consumer must also—on pain of forfeiture—lodge a formal complaint by sending a registered letter with advice of receipt to the organiser or seller no later than ten working days from the date of return to the departure point.

17. INSURANCE AGAINST CANCELLATION AND REPATRIATION COSTS

If not expressly included in the price, it is possible, and indeed advisable, to take out special insurance policies at the time of booking at the offices of the organiser or seller against expenses resulting from package cancellation, accidents, and baggage. It is also possible to enter into an assistance contract covering repatriation expenses in the event of accidents or illness.

18. GUARANTEE FUND

The National Guarantee Fund has been established at the Directorate General for Tourism of the Ministry of Productive Activities, to which the consumer may apply (pursuant to art. 21 D. lgs. 111/95) in the event of insolvency or declared bankruptcy of the seller or organiser, to safeguard the following needs: a) reimbursement of the price paid; b) repatriation in the case of travel abroad. The fund must also provide immediate economic availability in the event of forced return of tourists from non-EU countries on the occasion of emergencies, whether or not attributable to the conduct of the organiser. The operating procedures of the Fund are established by decree of the President of the Council of Ministers of 23/07/99, n. 349 G.U. n. 249 del 12/10/1999 (pursuant to art. 21 n. 5 D. Lgs. 111/95).

19. FORCE MAJEURE AND FORTUITOUS EVENTS

The organiser shall not be held liable for losses, accidents, damages, or the impossibility of performing the Trip resulting from causes of force majeure, including by way of example: war, actual or suspected acts of terrorism, fire, natural disasters, unforeseeable events, strikes, bankruptcy, defaults of subcontractors, any other event beyond the organiser's control, and/or any other unusual and/or unforeseeable event.

ADDENDUM GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT FOR THE SALE OF INDIVIDUAL TOURIST SERVICES

A) STATUTORY PROVISIONS

Contracts concerning the offer of transport services alone, accommodation services alone, or any other separate tourist service, as they cannot be construed as a contractual category of travel organisation or package holiday, are governed by the following provisions of the CCV: art. 1, n.3 e n.6; artt. da 17 a 23; artt. da 24 a 31, as regards provisions other than those relating to the organisation contract, as well as by the other stipulations specifically referring to the sale of the individual service forming the subject of the contract.

B) CONTRACT CONDITIONS

The following clauses of the general terms and conditions of contract for the sale of package holidays set out above also apply to such contracts: art. 4 1° comma; art. 5; art. 7; art.8; art.9; art. 10 1° comma; art. 11; art. 15; art. 17. The application of these clauses under no circumstances implies that the relevant contracts are construed as package holidays. The terminology of the cited clauses relating to the package holiday contract (organiser, trip, etc.) must therefore be understood with reference to the corresponding roles in the contract for the sale of individual tourist services (seller, stay, etc.).

Approved by Assotravel, Assoviaggi, Astoi and Fiavet

Notice pursuant to art. 16 della L. 269/98: Italian law punishes offences relating to prostitution and child pornography by imprisonment, even if committed abroad. Privacy Notice. Please be informed that all personal data will be processed in full compliance with the provisions of legge 675/1996 and that the processing of personal data is aimed at the performance by the Company of the services forming the subject of the package holiday. Personal data will under no circumstances be transmitted to third parties and may be erased at any time upon request by the consumer.