Tourism and Hospitality Law

The matters we handle within the framework of the Tourism Encouragement Law No. 2634, the Travel Agencies Law No. 1618 and the relevant legislation:

• Applications for tourism investment and tourism operating certificates
• Operating agreements for hotels and accommodation facilities
• Hotel management and brand licensing (franchise) agreements
• Establishment, operating certificates and supervision of travel agencies
• Package tour contracts and claims arising from tour cancellations
• Accommodation contracts and reservation disputes
• Timeshare and shared ownership holiday contracts
• Regulations on short-term accommodation rentals
• Allocation of public immovables and easements in tourism investments
• Tourism incentives and support schemes
• Marina and yacht operations
• Contracts relating to health tourism services
• Tourist consumer disputes and applications to arbitration committees

In our work in this field, the provisions of the Tourism Encouragement Law No. 2634, the Regulation on the Qualifications of Tourism Facilities, the Travel Agencies Law No. 1618 and the relevant legislation are taken into account. Depending on the type of activity, consumer, employment, personal data, food, zoning, trademark and electronic commerce legislation may also apply, and each matter is assessed together with the operating model, sales channels and existing contracts of the enterprise.

Within the scope of tourism investments, we carry out legal due diligence for hotel, holiday village, apart-hotel, campsite and marina projects. The land registry and encumbrance records, zoning plans, building and occupancy permits, coastal or conservation status, existing allocations and easements, tourism certificates and company records are examined together in order to establish whether the immovable property is genuinely suitable for the intended investment.

We prepare and review hotel lease, operating and management agreements, as well as franchise, brand licence and name-right agreements. Pre-opening investment and renovation costs, the ownership and maintenance of fixtures, working capital, the employer of the personnel, budgeting and reporting, brand standards, performance tests, insurance, the use of reservation and guest data, and termination and transition arrangements are addressed expressly.

For travel agencies, tour operators and accommodation establishments, we prepare or review hotel–agency, incoming, outgoing, package tour, transfer, guiding, event and destination service agreements. In contracts with a foreign element, the governing law, the competent court or arbitration, tax withholdings, bank charges and exchange rate provisions are addressed separately.

Tourism certificate and permit processes, authorisations for short-term tourist rentals under Law No. 7464, guest registration obligations under the Identity Notification Law No. 1774, personal data processes, seasonal employment and service procurement relationships, and responses to inspections and administrative sanctions also fall within our field of practice.

Among the disputes most frequently encountered in practice in tourism and hospitality law are reservation, cancellation and refund disputes, receivables between hotels and agencies, claims arising from package tours, disputes over the early termination of management agreements, and administrative fines, certificate-related acts and suspensions of activity following inspections.

In reservation disputes, the channel through which the booking was made, the cancellation and pre-payment terms communicated to the guest, the timing of the cancellation and the actual loss of the establishment are examined. Accommodation services provided on a specific date or during a specific period fall among the exceptions to the right of withdrawal under the Distance Contracts Regulation; equally, a non-refundable clause does not in every case entitle the establishment to retain the full amount collected.

In package tour disputes involving programme changes, tour cancellations, flight problems or accommodation that differs from what was promised, the liability of the organiser, the intermediary and the independent service providers is examined separately. Depending on the amount in dispute and the capacity of the parties, the consumer arbitration committee, mandatory mediation, the consumer court or commercial litigation may come into consideration, and a payment made to the consumer is assessed separately from any recourse claim against the service provider at fault.

Unlicensed activity, exceeding the authorised capacity, promotion inconsistent with the official classification and the failure to remedy deficiencies identified in inspections may result in fines, certificate-related acts or the suspension of activity. Disputes concerning outsourced services and subcontracting, food safety incidents, the continued use of brands and digital accounts after a management relationship ends, and online reviews affecting commercial reputation are also frequently encountered.

The process begins with the identification of the documents, the chain of contracts, the capacities of the parties, the critical dates and the available evidence. Contracts, licences and certificates, inspection reports, reservation records, payment documents and correspondence are examined together, since a legal problem in a tourism enterprise is rarely confined to a single contract or a single authority.

The administrative, commercial and consumer dimensions of the matter are then separated, and priority steps are determined so that the enterprise can continue its activity during the season, evidence is preserved and financial loss does not increase. In food safety or similar incidents, samples, temperature records, personnel lists, supply documents and camera footage are secured without delay.

Following an inspection, the inspection report, the notification document, the requested defence and documents, the period granted for remedying deficiencies and the licence and operating certificates are reviewed. Since the date of notification may determine the start of the application period, the authority imposing the sanction, the legislation relied upon and the procedure followed are established first, and administrative application, an annulment action and a stay of execution are assessed together where necessary.

In contractual and consumer disputes, the options of negotiation, formal notice, the consumer arbitration committee, mediation, litigation or arbitration are compared according to the specific file. The client is regularly informed about the stages of the process, the possible risks and the legal remedies that may be pursued.