As Rector of the University of Salamanca, it is an honour to support this new initiative promoted by a group of Professors specialised in Tourism Law, the so-called The Group of Lisbon, to create the International Journal of Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Law. After several international conferences in Europe (Spain, France, Italy and Portugal) and Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay) and several collective books on European and Latin American tourism law (Sustainable Tourism Law, 2019; Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive, 2017 and 2020); Tourism Law in the Americas, 2020; Wine Law, 2021; Legal Impacts of COVID-19 in the Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, 2022; Competiton Law in Tourism and Tourism Law in Europe, 2022, several professors come together to launch this international journal with a vocation of becoming the meeting point for all specialists in tourism law in Europe and Latin America. In the glossary of terms of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), tourism is defined as „a social, cultural and economic phenomenon that involves the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal, professional or business reasons.“, and the pandemic caused by COVID 19 has hardened us its importance in the world economy, as well as the absence of an international legal framework to help tourists in emergencies. Undoubtedly, tourism is a multidisciplinary science. The protection of tourists at a global level has been embodied in the „International Code for the Protection of Tourists“(ICPT) prepared by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The code was approved at the 24th UNWTO General Assembly, held in Madrid between November 30 and December 3. The ICPT was created to increase the protection of tourists by determining the minimum standards for emergencies and reinforcing the rights of tourists post-COVID-19. In short, it aims to resolve problems of vulnerability of tourists in exceptional cases, and the coordination of sending and receiving countries will be necessary. The UNWTO Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili, had already warned that the COVID-19 crisis had exposed the absence of an international legal
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