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Need of Tourism Laws
Need of Tourism Laws
Introduction
India is known for its tourism hotspots and attracts visitors from all over the world
who come to explore India and its many wonders. The good news is that
obtaining a tourist visa is rather simple. The bad news is the never-ending list of
legal requirements to meet. The Indian judicial system’s perplexing character
doesn’t help matters either.
Sources
The presence of what we now refer to as tourist legislation may be traced back to
the dawn of time in virtually all civilizations. Many ancient books
discuss accommodations and facilitation, as well as rules governing the operation
of sarais, state officials’ duty to travellers, tariffs, and other topics. Today,
however, we have more complicated rules, which have arisen not only as a result
of the industry’s complexity, but also as a result of varying government views, the
existence of many government offices, tourist awareness, and so on. The rules
governing tourism come from a variety of places. In the United States, for
example, 51 distinct sources (states and the federal government) contribute to
tourist legislation. Constitutions, common law, administrative law, treaties, and
legislation are all examples.
In India, the Union list, Concurrent list, and State list all feature aspects linked to
tourism, despite the fact that tourism is not officially mentioned anywhere.
Emigration laws, aviation, ancient sites and monuments, shipping, highways, and
so on are all in the union list; wild animal and bird protection, forests, and so on
are in the concurrent list; and domestic pilgrimage, theatres, and so on are in the
state list. Concerning these issues, many laws have emerged at various times.
There is no such legislation that covers all areas of tourism, despite an increasing
desire for one. In reality, “tourist legislation tries to establish in plain,
unambiguous terms the rights and obligations of its various segments vis-à-vis the
user and vice versa, and to provide for legal protection of the rights and
enforcements of the responsibilities so stated,” according to one argument. This
implies that almost all areas of tourism should be handled by a single piece of law.
In the current context, tourist regulations are no different from those that apply
in India’s judiciary and legislation. There are a number of laws that impact or are
related to tourism, both directly and indirectly. The rules governing tourism are
diverse and may be split into two categories:
To begin with, there are broad regulations that apply to this business in
unexpected ways due to its unique qualities, such as damages for
disappointment.
Second, the industry-specific rules, ranging from historic common
innkeepers and carriers doctrines to the maze of municipal, state,
federal, and international regulations that presently regulate this
business.
The Indian government has not enacted any tourism legislation or any central
tourism legislation. However, in 2002, the National Tourism Policy was developed
for the growth and promotion of the tourism industry, and it includes essential
principles for protecting the interests of tourists and tourism companies. But,
various laws govern various aspects of tourism. They are as follows:
1. Environment-related
2. Monuments
3. Accommodation
The Sarais Act
Department of Tourism Regulations for Categorisation of Hotels, etc.
Rent Control Act (State Specific) Public Liability Act 1991
MACT 1988
Baggage Amendment Rules 2006
Motor Vehicle Act of 1988
Aircraft Act of 1934
The Carriage by Air Act 1972
11.Criminal Activities related Laws
“The emergence of tourism as an important activity has brought into focus the
need for a harmonious relationship between the tourists and the providers of
tourist services,” Sitikantha Mishra and G. Ravindran wrote in a paper titled “An
Overview of Tourism Legislation in India” presented at a Workshop on Tourism
Legislation in India in January 1998. The absence of any conventional rules
governing commerce is at the basis of a lot of tourism issues. Once service quality
standards are established and amended regularly in response to market demands,
everyone would know whether the services provided were adequate or not.
This will result in an overall increase in service quality and a reduction in conflicts
between visitors and service providers. The economic importance of tourism, as
well as its current stage of development, has brought the need for appropriate
central legislation to coordinate and control industry activities on professional
lines, as well as to ensure adherence to high ethical standards commensurate
with the needs/demands of international activity, into sharper focus. This is
especially true because tourism in neighboring destinations/countries is becoming
increasingly competitive.”
In this regard, the emphasis is often on the quality of services, the maintenance of
standards, and the minimization of conflicts between service providers and
visitors. Many grey areas, such as child labour, sex tourism, and the state of small
service providers, must be handled in the larger scope of tourist regulation. In
truth, advocating for tourist legislation should not be a knee-jerk reaction to the
interests of the wealthy and powerful. Furthermore, laws must be backed up by
significant public awareness campaigns; otherwise, the mere creation of
legislation and its imposition would be ineffective. There is a need for a code of
conduct in many sectors, notably among commercial organisations working in the
tourism industry, not only in their relations with each other but also with tourists
and the host people.
Because of the many laws that currently exist concerning diverse actions and
situations that have an impact on tourist operations and activities,
having common tourism legislation is not a simple undertaking for any nation.
However, efforts in this direction must be tempered by the fact that tourism law
must have a broad perspective and not be viewed just as a weapon to safeguard
the interests of the tourism sector.
Conclusion
Tourism regulation is found in just a few nations across the world. There are
different regulations affecting tourist operations and activities in the majority of
countries. Tourist protection, border controls, quality of service, environmental
protection, conservation of historical sites and monuments, tourism industry
regulations, and the relationship between the various segments of the travel and
tourism industry are among the various types of tourism-related laws enacted in
various countries. These rules are based on a variety of sources. The demand for
tourism law was often made from the perspective of the tourism sector or to
safeguard the interests of foreign tourists in terms of their safety or to create
service standards.
However, there have been calls for laws to promote sustainable tourist growth
while simultaneously preserving the interests of the host people and providing
economic advantages to the local community. In India, there are several
regulations that impact tourism operations and activities, and as tourism experts,
you must be conversant with these laws. The Indian tourism ministry has made
many attempts to determine the possibility of enacting tourism laws. These
initiatives, however, are still in their infancy, and nothing tangible has emerged in
this area.
TOURISM LEGISLATION
According to Ronald A. Kaiser (Travel and Tourism Law, 1994), tourism law creates
and defines seven basic concepts:
In general terms, tourism law would seek to define in clear and unambiguous
terms the rights and responsibilities of the various segments of tourism vis-à-vis
the user as well as the service provider. Till date the types of tourism legislation
that have been created or introduced in various countries can be classified into
the following functional areas:
The existence of what we term as tourism laws today can be traced back in
history from the most ancient times in practically all the civilizations. Many
ancient texts refer to traveler’s accommodation and facilitation, laws about the
functioning of sarais, state official’s responsibilities towards travellers, tariffs, etc.
However, today we have more complex laws that have emerged not only because
of the complex nature of the industry but also because of varied government
attitudes, existence of varied government departments, tourism awareness and
so on. Tourism laws are derived from a variety of sources. For example, in United
States 51 different sources (states and federal government) contribute towards
tourism law. These include federal and state constitutions, common law,
administrative law, treaties and statutes. Similarly, in India the Union list,
Concurrent list and State list, all have elements related to tourism though tourism
is not specifically referred to anywhere. For example, emigration laws, aviation,
archaeological sites and monuments, shipping, highways etc. come under the
union list; protection of wild animals and birds, forests, etc. form part of the
concurrent list whereas domestic pilgrimage, theatres etc. form part of the state
list. Different laws have come up at different intervals of time as regards these
themes. There is no such law that encompasses all aspects of tourism though the
demand for one has been picking up. It has been argued in fact that “legislation
on tourism seeks to define in clear unambiguous terms the rights and
responsibilities of its various segments vis-à-vis the user and vice versa and to
provide for legal protection of the rights and enforcements of the responsibilities
thus defined” (Mishra and Ravindran, 1998).
This means that practically all aspects related to tourism should be governed by
one tourism legislation. Currently, there are various legislations that directly or
indirectly affect tourism. These can be categorized under the following heads:
Different countries have their own provisions on these laws whereas there are
areas of international operations where common provisions are followed.
The emergence of tourism as an important activity has brought into focus the
need for harmonious relationship between the tourists and the providers of the
tourist services. A number of problems of tourists have their roots in the absence
of any standard norms regulating the trade. Once the standards of quality of
services are laid down and revised periodically as per market exigencies, everyone
would be clear about whether in a particular case the services were deficient or
not. This will lead to an overall improvement in the quality of services and
minimization of disputes between the tourists and the providers of services. The
economic importance of tourism and the present stage of its development have
also brought into sharper focus the need for appropriate central legislation to
coordinate and control the activities of the industries on professional lines and
ensure observance of high ethical standards commensurate with the
needs/demands of an international activity. This is especially so because global
tourism is becoming highly competitive in the neighboring destinations/countries.