IV. AN OVER-ARCHING CONCERN There can be no doubt that the EU legislators and the CJEU have an acute focus on ensuring a high degree of consumer protection in this area of the law. While this must be balanced with a regime that facilitates innovation and the ability of the travel industry to adapt and survive, any attempts at divergence in the UK must ensure the highest level of consumer protection. Any changes made to the 2018 Regulations must not introduce additional layers of complexity. There is already a lack of understanding as to some aspects of the 2018 Regulations amongst consumers, and any amendments must look to improve transparency and consumer trust in the industry, not take it backwards. Encouragingly, such an approach is reflected in the UK government’s proposals for reform. For example, the widened definition of a package holiday will provide enhanced protections for individuals who sustain a life-changing injury while travelling overseas or in the UK for holidays or business, which the package travel directive and UK Regulations have always captured through the liability regime that makes the tour operator responsible for a lack of conformity in the performance of the services forming part of the package holiday contract. V. SHOULD THE PTRS CONTINUE TO APPLY TO UK-ONLY PACKAGE HOLIDAYS? The UK government was considering exempting domestic package holidays that do not include the transport of passengers from the regulations, on the basis that this might have encouraged businesses to offer more choice and more costeffective domestic packages to customers. This issue does not arise in the context of the EU’s reforms as it would undermine the whole purpose of EU directives and the integrity of the internal market. Summarising the response to its 2025 consultation, the UK government recognises businesses would have liked to see domestic only package holidays without a travel element removed from the scope of the regulations. However, the consultation response concluded that this proposal should be rejected. Notable concerns include the ability of consumers to obtain refunds in the event of insolvency of the travel organiser and the fact that an organiser may still be liable under other legislation (notably the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which requires consumer services to be provided with reasonable care and skill). The 5 PACKAGE TRAVEL REFORM AND THE UK
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