Legal Institution Of Financial Security As A Mean Of Protection Of Tourists’ Proprietary Interests

Abstract

The article is devoted to some issues of incorporation of financial security mechanism into domestic legislation in the context of the international obligations of the Republic of Armenia. The aim of the article is to compare means of financial security – determined in the laws of foreign countries – with the ones determined in the new draft law “On Tourism” in light of international criteria for the legal regulation of tourism activities, as well as to discuss some problems related to the grounds of payoff by means of financial secuirty. As a result of research of foreign and domestic practice, the author proposes to determine as an obligatory means of financial security for tourism activities not only bank’s or other credit or insurance company’s guarantee, but also a Guarantee Fund, formed through annual payments of subjects of tourism activities. It is also proposed to differentiate the scope of application of each of these means of financial security, taking into account the objectivity or subjectivity of the reasons for non-fulfillment of the obligation as a criterion for such differentiation. In particular, according to the author, a demand for payoff can be presented to a bank, other credit or insurance company in case of failure to fulfill an obligation due to the impossibility of fulfillment because of force majeure, including acts of a foreign competent authorities prohibiting entry into the territory of a given state and the insolvency of an outbound tour operator and/or a travel agent, who sells travel packages on his own behalf. The same demand can be presented to the Guarantee Fund in case of initiated criminal proceedings in relation to the alleged criminal actions of subjects of tourism activities, as well as in case of insolvency of a bank, other credit or insurance company, if the latter were obliged to pay compensation to the tourist.