As the dean of the University of Calabria (UNICAL), I am honoured to be invited to participate in the presentation of this new international journal. The International Journal of Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Law (IJTTHL) will be attended, infact, by authors, publishers and members of the scientific committee, among the world’s leading experts on tourism, and the approach to the subject will be, as broad as possible, and with priority for the main current issues: from sustainability to competition, to legal initiatives. With the amendments introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon of 13 December 2007, the tourism sector was explicitly recognised in Primary Law. This as a consequence meant for the european legislator the need to set as a specific aim that of: “encouraging an incentive environment to the development of companies in the sector” and “supporting cooperation between member states, particularly through the exchange of best practices”. For this purpose, the second paragraph of article 195 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union gives the European Parliament and the Council the power to approve “specific” measures. And this is the case, for example, with the intervention aimed at modernising the regulations on travel packages and, in particular, at filling the gaps in the implementation of Council Directive 90/314/EEC, travel, holiday and complete travel. Although the previous Directive already provided significant protection for purchasers of traditional “pre-packaged travel packages”, the law was not adequate for changes in the “digital age”. This inadequacy has long led to a “legal fragmentation”, which has prevented the improvement of the internal market for tourism, making it increasingly difficult (especially for small businesses) to offer tourist services in a country other than that of establishment. That said, it is clear that complete harmonisation is needed in order to establish uniform rights for consumers and fair conditions for economic operators, in a sector which, in addition to being strategic for an adequate economic development of the union, represents the field of choice in which consumers play an increasingly active role, day after day.
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