Increased security for travelers and simplification for travel industry players. The government has decided on a bill with proposals that strengthen and improve today's travel guarantee system for customers.
The travel guarantee provides consumers with financial protection if a travel operator goes bankrupt. It applies to package holidays and linked arrangements and makes it possible to get travel costs back if the trip is cancelled.
The current system is based on each individual travel operator arranging an individual travel guarantee for its travelers, which will, among other things, cover customers' refund claims in the event of bankruptcy. In the bill, the government proposes that a collective fund be established and that the individual guarantees be reduced in size.
– We are now strengthening the travel guarantee system so that travelers do not have to see their money go up in smoke. Customers should reasonably be financially protected even if the travel company goes bankrupt a period after the trip was booked. We have seen examples where people's dream trip turns into a nightmare, for example during the pandemic, where some customers did not receive any money back at all after the tour operator went bankrupt. With this model, more customers can be entitled to a refund, says Minister of Civil Service Erik Slottner.
The Government proposes that the amendments to the Travel Guarantee Act be implemented in two stages.
First stage: Establishment of a travel guarantee fund
In the first stage, a travel guarantee fund is built up by travel operators starting to pay a fee to the fund. For operators who arrange package holidays, the fee will amount to an amount equivalent to 0.6 percent of the price of the package holiday. As the fund is built up, the individual travel guarantees will decrease in size.
Second stage: Extension of the travel guarantee
In the second stage, the scope of the travel guarantee is expanded, which benefits travelers, so that more refund claims and certain types of vouchers are covered. It is common for legal entities, such as card companies, to pay compensation to travelers who are entitled to compensation from the travel guarantee after so-called card complaints. In the second stage, these companies are given the right to apply for compensation from the travel guarantee in turn (a so-called right of recourse).
The first stage is proposed to come into force on 1 April 2026. The second stage is proposed to come into force when the fund is fully funded, i.e. amounts to SEK 1.5 billion.
About the travel guarantee system
A more detailed description of the government's proposal:
The scope of the travel guarantee is proposed in the bill to be expanded so that more types of refund claims and certain vouchers are covered. This means that consumer protection is strengthened. Many customers were left without money during the pandemic when their trip was cancelled and the company only later, for example a month or so after the trip was cancelled, went bankrupt.
Examples of what applies today:
a) If a trip is cancelled for reasons other than bankruptcy (for example, pandemic, ash cloud or fires) and the travel operator then goes bankrupt, the travel guarantee does not apply. Customers will then not receive any money back from the travel guarantee.
b) However, if a trip is cancelled due to the organizer going bankrupt, the travel guarantee applies.
The government's proposal also includes a) travel guarantee coverage when the travel guarantee fund is established. This strengthens consumer protection and makes the system more predictable and clear.
Today, vouchers are not covered by the travel guarantee. The government's proposal means that if the tour operator has offered a voucher instead of a refund in cash, and then goes bankrupt, the voucher is covered by the travel guarantee. Travelers therefore do not have to sit with worthless vouchers worth thousands of kronor, which they risk doing today.
