Enforcing EU Legislation on Tourism in Albania: Challenges of Tourist Protection on the Travel Package Contracts

The study provides the challenges enforcing EU legislation on tourism in Albania, focusing on tourist protection in the travel package contract. The primary objective is to evaluate the role of the European Union in improving the legislation in the tourism sector in member states or aspiring ones, and the legal instruments used to govern tourism in the EU and Albania. The main aim is to highlight the alignment of domestic tourism legislation with community law and assess whether it has improved the standards for tourist services. This paper supports the hypothesis that the slow implementation of legal reforms in tourism enterprises is not contributing to the expected success of this sector. To provethis hypothesis this study relies on the analytic research method, theoretical consultation with important legal documents in tourism, and the historical interpretation of the legal reforms carried out during this period. The study also uses the comparative method to examine the impact of the criteria set out in European Union legislation in tourism and their transposition into domestic law in the context of Albania’s EU integration. Strengthening consumer rights is a challenge for countries in a perpetual transition like Albania. Undoubtedly, the protection of the tourist consumer, even though at first sight it represents protection ‘for luxury services’, is one of these objectives of general consumer protection. Therefore, it is necessary, not only that the Albanian legal framework regarding travel package contracts complies with Community law, but also that the tourist consumers be sensitized about their rights, as well as that the enforcement of the law by the responsible institutions should be strengthened. The main findings are that even though there is a legal basis aligned with community law that regulates and protects the interests of the tourist consumers in the travel package contract, it has not provided the appropriate effects due to the lack of tourist entrepreneurs’ willingness in the field of tourist travel to enforce legal requirements, negligence of the customers to protect their rights and mainly of the state authorities in enforcing the law.