Latest news from Germany is that the revised EU package travel directive (PTD) is unlikely to be resolved for some time, as the matter gets caught up in the country’s upcoming election.
The controversial directive has the potential to entrench the power of Germany’s dominant tour operators, reintroduce exclusive agreements that have been banned in the country since 1994, and force retailers to take on the liabilities of tour operators. Read more about the directive here.
It is hoped the second and third reading of the Act implementing the directive will be held before the Bundestag election in September, but this is not guaranteed. The first hearing took place in January.
In the meantime, reports Reinhart Mecklenburg of AfroSales Tourism Marketing Services, the emotional issue has become something of a political football. The Christian Democratic Party has accused the Social Democrats of siding with the country’s wholesale giants in support of the revisions, an allegation that both the Social Democrats and wholesalers have strongly rejected.
