VIII. HOW SHOULD ‘OTHER TOURIST SERVICES’ BE DEALT WITH WHEN FORMING PART OF A PACKAGE? Under the UK’s 2018 Regulations, for ‘other tourist services’ to form part of the package holiday they must account for a ‘significant proportion’ of the value of the package holiday or represent an ‘essential feature’. This is yet another area of consumer confusion, with the UK government recognising the definition causes ambiguity. Under the EU’s 2015 Directive, a ‘significant proportion’ is equal to or more than 25% of the value of the package. The UK did not originally adopt the 25% criterion, but has also now decided against diverging from the significant proportion requirement altogether, with plans for this to be retained. This is despite a compelling argument to legislate otherwise; 55% of those responding to the UK government’s consultation wanted the significant proportion criterion to be removed and 73% said it was not clear what forms an ‘essential feature’ of a package. As noted by The Forum of Complex Injury Solicitors (FOCIS) in its response to the 2025 consultation on package travel reform: Complexity and ambiguity in the law, including in contract terms, affects consumers’ ability to understanding their rights. In turn, this impacts public trust and confidence in the PTRs and also increases the likelihood of satellite disputes between the parties should a dispute occur. Other tourist services are as likely to cause harm as other elements of a package holiday and as such, the consumer ought to be afford protections and a means of redress under the PTRs. This is particularly important where a consumer has purchased a package holiday which includes services such as excursions, as the consumer may not have knowledge of the identity, credentials or insurance coverage of any local service providers contracted by the tour operator. If the term is not removed, it must be carefully reviewed and comprehensive amendments made to remove any ambiguity for both consumers and tour operators. The concept of ‘essential feature’ is no less ambiguous and open to a subjective interpretation. If the other tourist service in question has formed part of the tour operator’s marketing or has otherwise induced the consumer into making a booking, then it should be considered an essential feature by default. A tightened definition is required to avoid satellite factual disputes as to whether the travel services benefit from the package travel protections. Nevertheless, the UK government considers that the current definition provides “a measurable and consistent framework from which sale-based decisions can be made”. This appears to be an attempt to balance the reforms the UK will introduce between 12 CHRISTOPHER DEACON
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