LIABILITY OF ONLINE PLATFORMS IN TOURISM SECTOR 5. CONCLUSION Online platforms in tourism sector provide the information society service for their customers, where they host or transmit content provided by a third party. The information society service is usually presented as information, advice of intermediation and its content is usually extracted from the users of the platform or exceptionally directly provided by the platform. The users’ status is important for establishing the applicable regime in contractional relations between actors in the platform. E- commerce Directive does not preclude the liability of online platforms for their own conduct under EU consumer law. Informational duties, professional diligence and no misleading actions are required to be preserved on the online platform. Reasonable expectations of users represent the important factor. The online platforms should duly inform the users. The terms and conditions itself may not be sufficient if the expectation of users based on the platforms’presentation evoke the impression of platform as the service provider or if the online platform has predominant influence over the provision of the travelservice itself. Secondary liability of online platforms has evolved also as the guarantee for the users of platforms. Platforms aware of the risks connected to this possibility provide the protection of intermediated services by the insurance. At the very beginning of my presentation, I stated that the tourism and hospitality sector is one of those that has been hugely transformed and technology-driven in the last decade. Later we discussed the most prominent cases concerning liability of online platforms that deal with travel services: Uber (transport), Airbnb (accommodation). I assume the practice fully proves the premise of the importance of platforms and necessity for clarification of their responsibilities in tourism industry. Digital Services Act shall be the next step.
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