President Javier Milei presented a Decree of Necessity and Urgency (DNU) in which he repeals multiple laws with the aim of deregulating the economy.
Among the 366 articles in this document, reference is made to turismo and different laws that control the activity.
“It is not possible to ignore the importance that the development of tourism has in the economic growth of the country, even more so when it has unrivaled tourist attractions and in a context of growing globalization,” can be read in DNU, which was already published in the Official Gazette.
This decree repeals laws 18,829, 18,828 and 26,356 with the objective of increasing the supply of tourist developments and reducing the burden bureaucratic.
Since the clarifying DNU did not come out, all these measures will come into force on December 29.
What impact does the DNU have on tourism?
“The DNU repeals three specific laws and basically the situation is that The market for agencies and other providers is deregulated”says lawyer Diego Benítez, expert at the World Tourism Organization.
This means, for example, that there is no longer a registry of qualified travel agencies (which allowed the authorization of the agency) and anyone could sell trips.
“A public-private table should be set up to agree on some issues based on this DNU and that, at least, establish three basic requirements to have a travel agency: commercial designation, insurance and technical representative (tourism professional),” Benítez proposes.
For his part, Santiago Aramburu, also specialized in Tourism Law and head of @Turhelp_ on Instagram, points out some issues that will have to be considered.
Firstly, when Law 18,829 (travel agencies) of 1970 is repealed, all its complementary rules– There are more than 100 resolutions.
“Tourism contracts are usually future contracts: you pay and the service is provided later, it is not immediate. Therefore, if a problem arises (the company closes or if the website from which it is contracted is canceled) there is no longer an important administrative avenue for free claims without the need for legal representation,” he points out.
In any case, it does not mean that the traveler is helpless: he is Consumer Protectionwhich governs the travel contract.
“Perhaps this situation gives rise to tools such as quality certifications or groupings of agencies providing certain guarantees. Or consumer associations generating mediation spaces,” considers Aramburu, who also raises other questions about the DNU such as what will happen to the tur.ar domain (which use agencies and destinations) and with the graduate tripssince the graduate law (25,599) refers to the repealed law 18,829.
“Here are a background discussion of the role of the State and the consequent expense that this obligation may have. Regardless of the position and role that each person believes the State should have, there always has to be someone who must decide what to do,” he says.
Refering to hospitalityLaw 18,828 was no longer being applied because each province has its own regulations for tourist accommodation.
“It was no longer in force, it was done at the time to encourage hotel investment during the 78 World Cup. Everything that is categorization is regulated in provincial matter Therefore, nothing changes and effectively repealing that law facilitates understanding,” says Gabriela Ferrucci, president of the Hotel Association of the Argentine Republic (AHT).
On the other hand, Ferrucci maintains that the repeal of Law 27,221 (on real estate leasing) may affect guests of platforms such as Airbnb, since whoever contracts the service now has a rental contract and not for tourist purposes. “In this case, the guest is no longer protected by Consumer Defense, but the reality is that in practice he was not protected either because the majority of these properties were not registered and no one paid taxes on that rental.”
Regarding law 26,356 of Shared time, Santiago Aramburu explains that it established – among other issues – that timeshare providers (owners, marketers, sellers, exchange networks, etc.) must be registered in a registry maintained by the national public tourism entity. “Now that record is extinct.”
What travel agencies say
From the Argentine Federation of Associations of Travel and Tourism Companies (FAEVYT) they made clear their discontent with the president’s measures.
In conversation with Clarín, Walter Rodríguez, secretary of this entity, said: “The main problem is the dissolution of registration. We sell services to be given in the future and that is a risk for the buyer. There is always the risk of a travel agency going bankrupt. It is understood that when there is a registry, the risk is lower because certain things are required and there is insurance. “It is in defense of consumers.”
Furthermore, in the press release issued by this entity you can read: “In our opinion, improving competitiveness does not mean the elimination of all registration, since the existence of a specific control reduces the number of cases that go to consumer defense. and protects passengers guaranteeing them that they are hiring services from authorized, trained agencies made up of professionals suitable to respond.
“Consumer defense is an effective tool against existing and registered companies, otherwise it will become a pure illusion and the main victims will be travelers.”
For now it is not known what will be requested to open a travel agency.
In any case, Rodríguez recognizes that modifications on industry regulations: “I understand that the travel agent law is obsolete, we have been working on a new law for years. It is true that a change is needed and we were in communication with the government to make changes to the registry.”
But one of the issues that caused the greatest discomfort in FAEVYT was that the president classified travel agencies as monopolistic during the national broadcast broadcast on Wednesday the 20th.
“We deeply regret the ignorance by referring to our activity as monopolistic when it is, on the contrary, one of the most diverse and decentralized sectors of tourism.
“More than 80% of travel agencies are SMEs that work with a registry open to the incorporation of any company that meets the requirements to carry out a professional and responsible task, also ensuring the rights of passengers. Ok It should be noted that we also openly compete with direct providers such as hotels and airlines.”