Who should bear the extra cost of traveling because of the epidemic?

On July 29, 2020, the website of the Supreme Court of China released the latest news, and the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism jointly issued a notice to properly handle tourism contract disputes according to law. If the travel contract is terminated due to infectious diseases, preventive measures and other reasons, the travel contract and tourists must negotiate to refund the travel expenses. If the two sides cannot reach an agreement, the tour operator must refund the balance to the tourists after deducting the refund fee paid to the local agent or performance assistant.

Due to the impact of the current epidemic on the personal safety of tourists, tourists must enjoy the corresponding safety measures taken by tour operators, and the expenses shall be borne by both parties. When staying in a tourist destination due to infectious diseases, epidemics and other reasons, tour operators must take reasonable resettlement measures to increase the number of tourists staying, and the round-trip expenses shall be borne by both parties.

Regarding the law on properly handling contract disputes of infectious diseases, in order to implement the deployment of the CPC Central Committee and promote the economic and social development of the Central Committee for Epidemic Prevention, should we pay close attention to it? Six steady? Work, where to implement it? Six guarantees? Task, properly solve the infectious disease tourism contract disputes according to law. In the process of standardized epidemic prevention management, the comprehensive recovery of production and living order has been effectively guaranteed. In addition, it is necessary to effectively solve the difficulties and problems facing the resumption of labor production, minimize difficulties, and ensure the safety and health of the people.

It is necessary to strengthen the basic requirements for dealing with conflict-related travel contracts. Tourism is the pillar industry of our national economy. To promote the steady and healthy development of tourism, it is important to promote stable economic growth and continuously improve people's lives. The outbreak of novel coronavirus has had a great impact on the tourism industry, and the disputes over tourism contracts have increased sharply. Correctly resolve disputes. It is necessary to establish, improve and resolve various mechanisms for tourism contract disputes. If a party brings a lawsuit, with the consent of the party, the people's court may suggest or entrust a specially convened mediation institution to mediate. For simple cases that cannot be submitted for arbitration, civil courts can make judgments and hear them quickly. In some cases, they can try to coordinate judges, determine judges, and determine the time interval for resolving disputes.

We should give full play to the role of non-litigation dispute resolution mechanism. The Cultural Tourism Bureau has accelerated the settlement of tourism disputes related to the epidemic through various communication methods such as internet, telephone and interviews.