INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM, TRAVEL AND HOSPITALITY LAW Keywords: information duties, online tourism services, online platforms, transparency, ranking, reviews, distance consumer contracts. 1. INTRODUCTION Transparent information is among the most important factors for sustainable digital transformation and development of the digital market in the European Union. In the past few years, special attention has been drawn to the establishment of the necessary level of information available to all participants on the digital single market. At the same time, it is emphasised that an ongoing development of digital tehnologies, digital society and the EU digital single market, although they undoubtedly bring about immense opportunities for further advancement of many aspects of every day life and business, they also pose various risks with long-lasting consequences for citizens, fundamental rights, democratic values and the foundation of society.1 Therefore, the European Commission emphasises that the key priority, in these more and more intensive processes of digital transformation, is “putting people in the centre of the digital transition“. It is also highlighted that “digital transformation should be shaped according to our European values and laws”.2 At the level of the European Union, a proposition is made to define a set of digital rights and principles for citizens, businesses, public administrations and policy-makers for the Digital Decade.3 These rights and principles would serve as “guidance for a sustainable, human-centric and value-based digital transformation”. 4 One of these digital rights, for the digital decade, must be “freedom of choice” to ensure, among other things, a fair online environement for citizens and business in general. On the one hand, “everyone should be able to effectively choose which online services to use, based on objective, transparent and reliable information.” On the other hand, “everyone should have the possibility to compete 1 DOI https://doi.org/10.60559/ijtthl2023-004 See: European Commission Communication: Establishing a European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade, {SWD(2022) 14 final}, Brussels, 26/1/2022, COM(2022) 27 final, pp. 2, 3. 2 Taken from ibid, p. 1. 3 See: European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade, European Commission, Brussels, 26/1/2022, COM (2022) 28 final. 4 Taken from the European Commission Communication: Establishing a European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade, p. 4.
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