Which countries have enacted tourism laws, and what is the current situation?

Canada's government system is federal. In addition to referring to the implementation of a series of tourism and related laws and regulations formulated by the state, provinces have relative independence in tourism legislation and judicature, which means that provinces can formulate some tourism laws and regulations suitable for local tourism development according to their own needs. This paper introduces various laws and regulations related to tourism in Canada, as well as the tourism legislation and law enforcement in its main provinces, for the reference of relevant departments.

I. National laws and regulations related to tourism

In Canada's national bills, there are not many directly related to tourism, the most important of which is the Canadian Tourism Commission Act. The bill provides for the establishment of the Canadian Tourism Commission at the national level, and makes detailed provisions on its status, authority, functions, composition of the executive committee, sources of funds, chairman's functions, meeting system, rules and regulations, establishment of headquarters, staffing and agreement rights. In addition, the bill also makes supplementary provisions on the handover of higher and lower institutions, human resources and labor relations.

In addition to being directly related to tourism, there are many bills indirectly related to tourism in Canada. Because tourism is a comprehensive industry, involving all aspects and many kinds of bills. Among thousands of bills in Canada, tourism-related bills account for about 15%-20%. Mainly involved in ecological environment protection, consumer protection, enterprise management, enterprise competition, food hygiene, transportation, vehicle safety, resource utilization (including land, water, oil and fuel, forests, wildlife, cultural and natural heritage, etc.). ), tobacco and alcohol use and control, environmental protection, garbage management, taxation, insurance, fire prevention, public safety, commodity sales and human rights.

Secondly, the comprehensive situation of tourism legislation in Ontario

Among all the more than 600 bills in Ontario, not many are directly related to tourism, including the Ontario Ministry of Entertainment and Tourism Law, Tourism Law, Tourism Regulations, Hotel Guest Registration Law, Hotel Owners Law, Provincial Parks Law and so on. However, there are more than 130 bills related to tourism, which are mainly divided into the following parts:

1. Laws and regulations related to enterprise operation: including name, registration, workplace safety, company operation and development, labor relations, taxation, enterprise competition, etc.;

2. Laws and regulations on special tourism enterprises and activities: Special tourism enterprises include museums, entertainment places, public conference centers and casinos. Special tourism activities include fishing, hunting and horse riding.

3. Laws and regulations on labor protection and employees' interests: including laws and regulations on wages, workers' rights, labor safety, personal taxation, medical care and insurance, labor insurance and welfare, retirement and pension, trade unions, occupational safety and holidays;

4. Laws and regulations related to resource utilization and protection: including land, water, oil and fuel, forests, wildlife, cultural and natural heritage, etc. , as well as garbage and sewage treatment;

5. Laws and regulations on commodity sales and food hygiene: including quality regulations on livestock food, tobacco and alcohol, milk and drinking water;

6. Laws and regulations on road traffic and public transportation: including vehicles, roads, expressway, railways, airports, traffic accidents, traffic insurance, etc. ;

7. Laws and regulations on human rights, personal safety, personal property, personal privacy and support for the disabled;

8. Laws and regulations related to consumer rights and interests: mainly including the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests.

Law on the organization and establishment of other government departments related to tourism. Such as the Ministry of Business Relations and Consumers Law, the Ministry of Environment Law, the Ministry of Natural Resources Law and so on.

Two. Introduction to the main tourism laws and regulations in Ontario

Ontario's tourism laws and regulations mainly include the Ontario Tourism Act and the Ontario Tourism Act-Ontario Regulations. Mainly for the registration and operation of travel agencies.

1. Ontario Tourism Industry Act

The Tourism Act of Ontario consists of 27 articles and several paragraphs, which make detailed provisions on the registration, property, operation and complaints of travel agencies. Including:

Registration (including the person in charge of registration and the registered parties. Place of registration, term of validity, cancellation and renewal of registration, refusal of registration and subsequent legal hearing procedures)

Property (registered property rights, property rights sharing and transfer, joint shareholders, debt liability)

Management (false advertising processing, financial reporting and inspection)

Complaints (person in charge of relevant complaints, inspection and handling, hiring experts, legal proceedings, loss compensation, appeal)

As the definition and registration of Ontario Tourism Industry Law are representative, the main contents are translated as follows:

(1) definition

In OTIA, "director" refers to the director under the Commercial Relations and Consumer Sector Act;

"Minister" means the Minister of Business Relations and Consumer Bill;

"Registrar" means the registrar designated in Article 2 of this Law;

"Rules" means rules made in accordance with this Law;

"Travel agency" refers to a person who directly sells travel services provided by others to consumers;

"Tourism service" refers to the transportation, accommodation or other services provided by tourists, travelers or tourists;

"Travel wholesaler" refers to the person who has the right to resell travel services to travel agencies; Or people who sell other people's travel services through travel agencies or wholesalers;

"Court" refers to the court of appeal for business registration stipulated by the Department of Business Relations and Consumer Bill.

(two) the appointment and responsibilities of the person in charge of registration

To implement OTIA, the Deputy Director of the Executive Committee shall designate a person responsible for registration. Under the supervision of this Law and the Director-General, the person in charge of registration may exercise his/her powers and perform the duties entrusted to him/her.

(3) Registration of travel agents and wholesalers

No person shall act or think that he can act as a travel agent unless the person responsible for registration is registered as a travel agent.

No one shall act or think that he can be a travel wholesaler unless he is registered as a travel wholesaler by the person in charge of registration.

Any travel agency shall not name the place outside the office as a place to receive the public and handle business when registering. If more than one office is named at the same time when registering, one of them must be designated as the headquarters and the other as the branch.

(4) Application for registration

The person in charge of registration stipulates that only one applicant can request new registration and renewal of registration as a travel agent or wholesaler. Unless the following conditions exist:

(a) Considering its financial situation, the applicant is unable to bear the financial responsibilities required for its business operation; Or (b) according to the existing laws, based on the principle of good faith, the applicant's past performance is enough to convince people that the applicant cannot undertake its business; or

(c) The applicant is a limited liability company; or

(d) If the applicant is registered, he is engaged in activities that violate laws and regulations;

(e) It is not limited by comprehensive clauses and sub-clauses. According to comprehensive clauses (l), (c) and (m) of the Immigration Law and other laws and regulations, crimes committed in recent five years due to theft or other illegal acts do not belong to the category of good faith;

(f) A travel agent or a person applying for registration as a travel agent may have multiple places of business as long as it is specified at the time of registration, unless these offices engage in activities that violate the regulations;

(g) According to the requirements of the court or relevant regulations, with the consent of the applicant, registration is only valid within the conditions and time limit stipulated in this Law.

(5) Reject the application

(l) According to Article 6 of this Law, if the person in charge of registration thinks that the applicant does not meet the relevant registration conditions stipulated in Article 4 of this Law, he/she may refuse the applicant's registration requirements.

(2) According to the provisions of Article 6 of this Law, the person in charge of registration may refuse to renew, stop or cancel the registration under the following circumstances because the registered parties do not meet the relevant registration conditions stipulated in Article 4 of this Law. That is, the applicant or the registrant violated the prescribed conditions and time limit for registration.

(6) The court hearing after the application is rejected.

(l) When a registrar proposes to refuse renewal, suspension or cancellation of registration, or refuses to name a branch during registration, he/she must inform the registrant of his/her proposal and explain the reasons.

(2) According to paragraph (1), the person in charge of registration shall also notify the applicant or registrant. Within 15 days after the notification is sent to the applicant, the applicant or registrant has the right to send a written notice to the court and the person in charge of registration to apply for a court hearing. In this way, the applicant can request a court hearing.

(7) Suspension of registration

During the court hearing after the application for registration is rejected, in order to safeguard the public interest, the person in charge of registration may make a ruling to temporarily suspend registration, and the ruling will take effect immediately.

(8) The right of the court to suspend the registration order

Although according to the above provisions, the person in charge of registration can order the temporary suspension of registration, which will take effect immediately, the court can shelve this order and wait for the court to handle the result.

(9) Description of continuation of registration

If the previous registration has not expired, the registrant applies for renewal and pays the corresponding fee. Before the renewal is approved, the previous registration is still valid.

When the person in charge of registration informs the applicant that his application may be rejected, the previous registration is still valid while the registrant applies for a legal hearing and is ordered by the court.

(10) Registration is not transferable.