Travel agencies will no longer be able to sell travel packages more than 12 months before the departure date, and this will be enforced through an amendment to GEO 107/1999 regarding the marketing of travel service packages, stated the Minister of Tourism, Mircea Titus Dobre.
„We are going to introduce an amendment, as the already modified GEO 107/1999 is currently at the Chamber of Deputies, so that no travel agency will be able to sell travel service packages more than one year in advance. Omnia Turism sold packages in March 2017 for as late as November 2018. The airlines’ flight plans didn’t even exist. Therefore, early booking and the sale of services more than 12 months in advance will be prohibited. We will impose this through an amendment, and there will also be a penalty, including the revocation of the tourism license, if someone sells such things,” specified Mircea Titus Dobre.
The minister also specified that travel agencies will have to declare several things related to their activity every three months, including the total number of contracted tourists, the total value of travel service packages sold to tourists, or those cancelled.
Dobre stated that currently, about 2,061 travel agencies operate with a license nationwide, and on the fiscal side, only ANAF (National Agency for Fiscal Administration) can verify them.
The relevant minister specified in the press conference that the damage caused by Omnia Turism is the largest since the revolution, given that the agency sold packages worth approximately 7.5 million euros for 2018 to 8,500 clients, and for the period of October 17 – December 31, 2017, another 433,000 EUR were collected from 202 tourists.
Source: Capital
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the sale of packages more than 12 months in advance being banned?
The measure was introduced to prevent fraud following the Omnia Turism scandal, where vacations were sold before airline flight plans were even available.
What are the penalties for agencies that violate the new rule?
Travel agencies that sell packages more than a year before departure risk having their tourism license revoked.
What new reporting obligations do travel agencies have?
Agencies must report quarterly on the total number of contracted tourists and the total value of packages sold or cancelled.