Law March 29th, 2001, n. 135
"Reform of the national legislation of tourism"
Published in the Official Gazette n. 92 of April 20th, 2001
The decree, with the purpose of assuring the unity in the tourist sector and the protection of consumers, of the companies and tourist professions, establishes:
a) The homogeneous terminologies and the minimum standard of services of information and reception of tourists;
b) The individualization of the different sorts of tourist companies operating in the sector as well as the non conventional reception activities;
c) The approaches and modalities of the exercise in the whole national territory of tourist companies for which the is recognized the need of homogeneous and uniform standards;
d) The minimum standards of quality of hotel rooms and residence units of tourist-hotel residences and receiving structures in general;
e) The minimum standards of quality of the services offered by tourist companies to which refer the relative criteria to the classification of receiving structures;
f) for travel agencies, organizations and associations that develop similar activities, the minimum and maximum level to apply and guarantees, also in relation to similar standards used in the Countries of the European Union;
g) the requirements and exercise modalities in the entire national territory of tourist professions for which is recognized the need of homogeneous and uniform profiles, especially the new emergent professions in the sector;
h) The requirements and minimum standards of receiving activities developed with unprofitable goals;
i) The requirements and the minimum standards of non-conventional receiving activities;
l) the directive criteria of administration of state goods and its relevancies granted for tourist-recreational activities, of purpose, collection and distribution of the principle, as well as the duration of the concessions, with the purpose of guaranteeing suitable terms and conditions for the exercise and development of managerial activities, assuring the invariability of what is stipulated by the State;
m) The minima standards of quality of given services by the companies that operate in the sector of nautical tourism;
n) The uniform criteria for the fulfilling of training exams for the exercise tourism professions.
5. The decree of paragraph 4 also formulates principles and related objectives:
a) to the development of the economic activity in the tourism field which should keep in mind the Committee inter-ministries for the economic programming in the development of the tasks assigned to it, with particular importance to the use of the community funds;
b) To the general directions for tourism promotion of Italy abroad;
c) to the actions directed to the development of local tourist systems, defined in article 5, as well as of the network systems of services, structures and integrated infrastructures, also of interregional authority, included iva, of location of tourist ports plans and of tourist arrivals in agreement with the interested local entities;
d) to the directions and actions directed to the development of qualified circuits as support of tourist activity, like golf fields, other facilities, path walking and others;
e) To the directions for the integration and improvement of the Letter of the Tourist's rights exposed in article 4;
f) to the creation of tourist infrastructures of national validity and the development of economic activities, in the tourist field, through the use of national and community funds.
6. As for the principles of improvement and integrity of actuative modalities, of economic efficiency, and simplification of administrative labour, of subsidiaries in the relationships with territorial and functional autonomies, each region, before nine months after the issue of the decree exposed in parenthesis 4, puts into force the principles and objectives settled by the present law and contents in decree exposed in the same parenthesis 4.
7. With the purpose of protecting and safeguarding of non fractional unitary interests, in the issue of company freedom and the consumer's protection, the dispositions contained in the decree of parenthesis 4 are applicable, after the unsuccessful lapsed of terms exposed in parenthesis 6, to the regions with ordinary statute, until the date in which each of the regional guidelines shall enter into force, adopted according to the modalities exposed in the same parenthesis 6.
8. for the following modifications and integrations of the decree of parenthesis 4 the same procedures foreseen by article 44 of the legislative decree of March 1998, 31 n. 112 are applied, and by the present law. The terms foreseen by such dispositions are half reduced.
Art. 3.
(National Conference of Tourism)
1. The National Conference of Tourism is instituted. The Presidency of the Council of ministries summons at least every two years the Conference that is organized by the Ministry of industry, trade and craft, according to the permanent Conference for the relationships among the State, regions and autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano. Summoned by the Conference are: the representatives of the Conference of Presidents of the regions and autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano, the representatives of the national Association of Italian municipalities (ANCI), of the Union of provinces of Italy (UPI) and of l'Unione nazionale comuni comunità enti montani (UNCEM), the national Council of economy and work (CNEL) and other territorial and functional autonomies, the delegates of the mostly representative associations of tourism managers, consumers, of the social tourism, of pro loco associations, un profitable associations in tourism, environmentalists associations and workers union organizations. The Conference also expressed orientations for the definition and upgrading of document containing the guidelines. The Conference, also, has the task of verifying the performance of guidelines, with particular emphasis in the tourist politics and those inter-sector guidelines referred to tourism, favouring the confrontation between institutions and representations of the sector. Definite actions of each Conference are transmitted to the competent parliamentary Commissions.
2. The derived profits of the operation of the Conference, equal to 100 million liras a year since year 2000, are dedicated to the ordinary assignments of the Ministry of industry, trade and craft.
Art. 4.
(Promotion of the tourist's rights)
1. The Letter of the tourist's rights, edited by the Ministry of industry, trade and craft, in four languages, in agreement with managing and union organizations of tourism, as well as the national associations of consumers' protection contain:
a) information on the tourist's rights as for the enjoyment of tourist-receptive services, included iva, those related with nautical recreation, established on the procedures of resource, on arbitration standards and arrangements for the cases of contractual non-fulfilment of the suppliers' of tourist offer;
b) information on the relative contracts to the acquisition of gratification rights on partial time of facilities with tourist-receptive destination, article 1, paragraph 1, item d), of the legislative decree of November 1998, 9 n. 427, performance of the directive 94/47/CE of the European Parliament and of the Council, of October 26th, 1994;
c) News on the existent classification and signalling systems;
d) Information on the tourist's rights as a user of air, railroad, maritime means of transportation, of freeways and wheeled transportation services;
e) Information about the rights and obligations the tourist as a user of travel agencies and tourism, of organized trips and tourist packages;
f) Information on insurance policies, about medical attendance, on the monetary and custom standards;
g) Information on the systems of protection of rights and to contact expert associations;
h) Information on the in force rules regarding respect and protection of national tourist and artistic system and cultural goods;
i) Concerning information to the uses and customs practiced at a local level and other information related with the appraisement, qualification, and recognition of the tourist system.
2. As an integration of what’s been stated in parenthesis b) of paragraph 1 of the present article, to the legislative decree of November 9th, 1998, n. 427, of performance of directive 94/47/CE, the following modifications are made:
a) The parenthesis d) of the paragraph 1 of the article 1 is substituted by the following:
"d) "well property": a property, with hotel destination, or partially, for the use at homes and hotel use or tourist-receptive use, on which the right object of the contract falls";
b) The article 7 is substituted by the following:
"Art. 7. - (Obligation of bank insurance). - 1. The salesperson not holding juridical organization of society of capitals or with a social capital under 10 thousand million liras and with no legal headquarters and secondary headquarters in the territory of the State is hereby forced to issue a bank insurance as guarantee of the correct execution of the contract.
2. The salesperson has, in each case, the obligation of issuing a bank insurance on the property of the contract in construction, as guarantee of the conclusion of works.
3. Expressed mention of the insurance should be made in the contract penalizing its nullity.'
4. The guarantees of paragraphs 1 and 2 cannot impose the buyer the anticipatory exclusion of the salesperson".
3. The Chamber of Commerce, industry, craft and agriculture, singly or in association according to what is specified in article 2, paragraph 4, item a), of law on December 29th, 1993 n. 580, they constitute the referee and counselling commissions for the solution of litigations among companies, consumers and inherent users to the supply of tourist services. Except on the power of users, in the event of reconciliation for the solution of litigations with the tourist companies, of using consumers’ associations.
Art. 5.
(Local tourism systems)
1. Thus are also defined local tourism systems the tourist homogeneous or integrated contexts, including territorial environments belonging to different regions, characterized by the integrated offer of cultural goods, environmental and tourist attractions, including typical products of agriculture and local craft, or the diffused presence of individual or associate tourist companies.
2. Local entities or private persons, individual or associate, promote the local tourist systems through agreement forms with functional entities, with authorized associations that come together in the formation of the tourist offer, as well as with the interested public and private persons.
3. In the field of programming functions and to favour integration among tourism and government politics of the territory as well as the economic development, the regions possess, according to the articulate V of Chapter II of part I of the unique text of laws on the classification of local entities, approved by legislative decree of August 18th, 2000, n. 267, and of the title II, article III, of the legislative decree of March 31st, 1998, n. 112, to acknowledge the present local tourist systems in this article.
4. Once established the anticipated limits by the community discipline in the matters of state help to companies, the regions, within the limits of Fund’s resources (article 6 of the present law), define the modalities and measure of the financing the development projects of the local tourist systems, predisposed by public or private entities, in its individual or associate form aiming, in particular, the following purposes:
a) To sustain activities as well as aggregation and integration processes among tourist companies, also in the form of cooperative, groups, and affiliation;
b) To carry out necessary inter-sector and infrastructural interventions for the qualification of the tourist offer and the urban and territorial re-qualification of high intensity establishments in tourist-receptive localities;
c) To continue technological innovation of information offices and receiving tourists offices, with particular stress in the promotion of standards services to the tourist, in article 2, paragraph 4, item a);
d) To continue the re-qualification of tourist companies, with priority for the due adaptations to security norms, for the classification and standardization of tourist services, with particular emphasis in the development of quality trademarks, of ecological certification and quality, as well as of club product, and the protection of the image of the local tourist product;
e) To promote telematic marketing of the typical tourist projects, for the optimization of the commercialization in Italy and abroad.
5. The Ministry of industry, trade and craft, before the financial exercise starting on year 2001, in the regard of assigned availability for the monetary law to the unique Fund for incentives to companies, exposed in article 52 of the law of December 23rd, 1998, n. 448, disposes the co-financing interventions in favour of local tourism systems for the development projects likely to interregional environments. With decree of the Secretary of industry, trade and craft, according to the permanent Conference for the relations among the State, the regions and autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano, are defined the criteria and modalities for the administration of the intervention of the unique Fund for incentives to companies.
6. Further predestinations and facilities for the development of local tourism systems might be allotted, with particular emphasis in those included in the municipalities characterized by such tourist flow that alters, in a period of the year not under three months, the parameter of the residents.
Art. 6.
(Co-financing Fund of the tourist offer)
1. With the purpose of improving the quality of the tourist offer, it’s instituted, in opinion of the Ministry of industry, trade and craft, a co-financing Fund fed by resources, previous authorization of established expenses, article 12, for interventions, article 5.
2. The resources, paragraph 1, are a 70% distributed between the regions and autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano that tribute the sums for the interventions, paragraph 1. Criteria and modalities in the distribution of availabilities of the Fund are determined by decree of the Secretary of industry, trade and craft, previous agreement in the headquarters of the unified Conference, article 8 of the legislative decree of August 28th, 1997, n. 281.
3. The Ministry of industry, trade and craft distributes among the regions and autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano the remaining 30 percent of the resources of the Fund, paragraph 1, through annual predispositions of power considered in aforementioned unified Conference. To this end the regions and autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano predispose, considering promoting local entities and the interested associations of category, plans of interventions directed to the improvement of quality in the tourist offer, including iva, the promotion and development of local tourism systems, article 5, with expenses agreement, covered with own funds, not under the 50% of the foreseen expense.
4. The Ministry of industry, trade and craft, in the three months after the publication of the disposition, predispose the scale, and distributes the contributions within 60 days from the publication of it.
Chapter II
COMPANIES AND TOURIST PROFESSIONS
Art. 7.
(Tourist companies and professional activities)
1. Tourist companies are those that exercise economic activities, organized for the production, commercialization, intermediation and administration of products, services, among them the beach resort facilities, of infrastructures and of exercises, comprised those of catering as part of the tourist local systems, competitors in the shaping of the tourist offer.
2. The individuation of the types of tourist companies, paragraph 1, is written according to article 2, paragraph 4, item b).
3. The inscription during the registration of companies, exposed in the law of December 29th, 1993, n. 580, to come into effect according to the terms and modalities written in the decree of the President of the Republic on December 7th, 1995, n. 581, constitutes a condition for the exercise of the tourist activity.
4. Once established the limits anticipated by the community discipline regarding the State’s help to the companies, tourist companies are extended the facilities, the contributions, the aids, the incentives and benefits of any sort foreseen by the in force norms of the industry, as well as the one defined by article 17 of the legislative decree of March 31st, 1998, n. 112, in the limits of financial resources available with this end in conformity with the criteria defined by the normative in force.
5. Tourist professions are those that organize and give services of promotion of tourist activity, as well as assistance, welcome, company and tourists' guide services.
6. Regions authorize the exercise of the activity, paragraph 5. Authorization, excepting guides, is valid in the entire country in conformity with the requirements and modalities foreseen in article 2, paragraph 4, and item g).
7. Tourist companies and those who exercise tourism professions which don't belong to the Countries members of the European Union can be authorized to establish and carry out their activity in Italy, according to the principle of reciprocity, previous inscription of the companies in the registration, paragraph 3, as condition they should comply with the requested requirements, as well as previous confirmation, for those who work as tourism professionals, of the requirements demanded by the regional laws and the decree of the President of the Council of Ministries, article 44 of the legislative decree March 31st, 1998, n. 112.
8. Grants already obtained before the in force date of the present law are protected.
9. Unprofitable associations that operate with recreational, cultural, religious or social purposes are authorized to exercise activities, paragraph 1, exclusively for associates although they belong to foreign associations with similar and related purposes among them by international agreements of collaboration. With this objective such associations should be standardized with what is anticipated by the International Convention regarding the trip contract (CCV), to be executed according to the law of December 27th, 1977, n. 1084, by the legislative decree of November 23rd 1991, n. 392, of performance of the directive n. 82/470/CEE regarding travel agents and tourism, and by the legislative decree of March 17th, 1995, n. 111, of performance of the directive n. 90/314/CEE concerning trips, vacations and "all-included" Circuits.
10. Unprofitable associations that operate for the promotion of juvenile, cultural, disabled and low-income population tourism, as well as the pro loco associations, are allowed, without new or greater commitments for the State’s balance, for the benefits, written in law of July 11th, 1986, n. 390, and later modifications, with institutional purposes.
Chapter III
SIMPLIFICATION OF NORMS AND ROTATION FUND FOR TOURISM LOAN AND SAVING
Art. 8.
(Modifications to article 109 of the unique text approved by the existent decree of June 18th, 1931, n. 773)
1. Article 109 of the unique text of public security laws, approved by decree on June 18th, 1931, n. 773, and later modifications, is substituted by the following:
"Art. 109. - 1. the agents of hotel exercises and other receptive structures including those that give lodging in tents, campers, as well as proprietors or agents of houses and apartments for vacations and those who rent rooms, including iva, the agents of non-conventional welcoming structures, but refuges for mountaineers included in a listing instituted by the region or by the autonomous province, can give lodging exclusively to people with ID card or another suitable document proving identity according to the in force norms.
2. For extra-community foreigners is enough the exhibition of the passport or of another document considered as equivalent in force in international agreements, and bearing the holder's picture.
3. Subjects, paragraph 1, through the same collaborators, are forced to give clients a statement card and of general information according to the model approved by the Ministry of interior. This card, although filled in by the agent, should be signed by the client. For families and groups with guides the signature can also be given by one of the spouses or any other relative, and by the group leader or any group member. Subjects, paragraph 1, are also obliged to communicate to local public security authorities, the general information of people lodged, by handing a copy of the card, before the twenty-four after their arrival. Alternatively, the agent may choose to make such communication sending, within the same time frame, to the competent police's offices the nominative data of the aforementioned cards through a computer, telematic or fax according to the modalities established by decree of Ministry of interior."
Art. 9.
(Simplifications)
1. The opening and transfer of headquarters of receiving exercises are subjected to the municipality mayor's authorization in whose territory is located the exercise. The authorization is only for the benefit of the receiving service, the supply of foods and drinks of guests, and everybody who is in the receiving structure for reasons of organized manifestations and congresses. The same authorization enables the supply of newspapers, magazines, films for photographic use and audiovisual recordings, postcards and stamps to the guests, also allowing to install, for guests’ exclusive use, equipment and structures with recreational character, with the respect of in force guidelines regarding security, hygiene and health.
2. The authorization mentioned in paragraph 1 pursues objectives of article 86 of the unique text of public security laws, approved by decree on June 18th, 1931, n. 773. Receiving activities should be exercised respecting in force rules, prescriptions and authorizations in matters of construction, town-planning, hygienic-sanitary and of public security, besides those referred to the distillation of the use of facilities and buildings.
3. In the event of interruption of the receiving exercise by a period superior to eight days, the authorization holder is forced to give communication to the mayor.
4. The authorization, paragraph 1, is revoked by the mayor:
a) in case the authorization holder, except the extension in the event of proven need, don't activate the exercise within 180 days time frame starting from the date in which the authorization was given or the activity suspended for a period superior to twelve months;
b) In case the authorization holder is not inscribed in the present registration in paragraph 3 of article 7;
c) in case, that proven the non correspondence of facilities state with professional criteria for the exercise of the activity of the regions or of the in force guidelines, prescriptions and authorizations regarding construction, town-planning, hygienic-sanitary, as well as those related with the use given to facilities and buildings, the suspended power to exercise the activity according to article 17-ter of the unique text of public security laws, approved by decree on June 18th, 1931, n. 773, modified by paragraph 5 of the present article, have not proceeded to the regularization within deadline.
5. Paragraph 3 of the article 17-ter of the unique text of public security laws, approved by decree on June 18th, 1931, n. 773, and following modifications, is substituted by the following:
"3. before five days after the receiving of the communication of the public official, the authority, paragraph 1, orders, with motivated disposition, the ceasing of the activity carried out with authorization deficiency or, in the event of a violation of prescriptions, the suspension of the authorized activity for the necessary time to standardize the violated prescriptions and a period not larger than three months. The aforementioned established in paragraph 4 and unless the violation of the presc
riptions with aid of public perfection or of hygiene, the suspension order is passed after the thirty days of the violation date. The execution of the suspension order is out of place in case the interested shows to have eliminated the violations or to have begun the administrative procedures".
6. Administrative procedures for the delivery of licenses, authorizations and none of the activities and tourist professions if they meet the principles of quickness, unity and simplification, including iva, the introduction of unique windows, and if they abide the procedures foreseen in matters of authorization of the other productive activities, if they are excessively favourable. The regions proceed to fulfil the present paragraph. Municipalities exercise their functions taking into account the need to unify authoritative procedures for tourist professions and activities, attributing to a single organizational structure the responsibility of the procedure; except what is anticipated by the law of December 6th, 1991, n. 394. It’s extensive to tourist companies the rule described in articles 23, 24, and 25 of the legislative decree of March 31st, 1998, n. 112, and for the in force regulation.
Art. 10.
(Rotation Fund for tourist loan and saving)
1. It is instituted by the Ministry of industry, trade and crafts a Rotation Fund for tourist loan and saving, hence denominated "Fund", in which are included:
a) savings made up by individuals, companies, institutions or private associations as managerial circles, associations non-profit, banks, financial societies;
b) Resources derived from financings, donations and liberality, earned by public or private people.
2. The Fund distributes tourist loans with light rates and favours tourist saving of families and individual tourists with utilities under a limit fixed every three years by decree of the Secretary of industry, trade and craft, according to the approaches of individual evaluations in the legislative decree of March 31st, 1998, n. 109. The facilities are mainly directed to the support of vacations packages in the national territory and preferably located in periods of low season making solid strategies to move out of season the tourist flows. They also have priority in the allowance of facilities the relative instances to vacations packages located within dejected areas.
3. The Secretary of Industry, trade and craft, with the objective of connecting the Fund with a system of good vacations manage at a national level by non-profit associations, for the associations of tourist companies and bank and financial institutions, previous agreement in the Permanent Conference for the relationships among the State, the regions and the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano, within a ninety-day term since the new law coming into force foresees by decree to establish:
a) The criteria and organization modalities and of administration of the Fund;
b) The type of facilities and services given;
c) People who can enjoy the facilities;
d) The modalities of use of the derived utilities of the administration for solidarity interventions in favour of neediest people.
4. With the purpose of allowing the beginning of the Fund administration, paragraph 1, is authorized a grant of about 7 thousand million liras annual in the triennium 2000 - 2002.
5. To the expense derived from the action of the present article, valued in 7 thousand million liras annual in the triennium 2000-2002, is faced by means of the corresponding reduction of the inscribed assignment, for the triennial balance 2000-2002, in the base forecast unit of capital account “special Fund” of the anticipation state of the Treasure Ministry, of the balance and economic programming for financial year 2000, partially using the relative storage to the Ministry of industry, trade and craft.
Chapter IV
ABROGATIONS, TRANSITORY AND FINANCIAL DISPOSITIONS
Art. 11.
(Abrogations and transitory dispositions)
1. The decree-law of October 24th, 1935, n. 2049 is converted, with modifications, by the law on March 26th, 1936, 26 n. 526, and successive modifications.
2. The receptive companies are not applied article 99 of the unique text of public security laws, approved by decree on June 18th, 1931, n. 773.
3. Article 266 of the execution regulation of the unique text of public security laws is abrogated, approved by decree on May 6th, 1940, n. 635. The dispositions of articles 152, 153, 154 and 180 of the same regulation are not applied to authorizations, article 9 of the present law.
4. The special section of the merchant registration, instituted by article 5, paragraph 2, of the law on May 17th, 1983, n. 217, is suppressed.
5. The following dispositions of the decree-law of March 29th, 1995, n. 97 are abrogated, transformed with modifications, by the law on May 30th, 1995, n. 203:
a) article 1, paragraph 6, 7, 8 and 9;
b) article 3, paragraph 1, items a) and b), percentage of competition in the tourism sector;
c) article 10, paragraph 14;
d) article 11;
e) article 12.
6. The law on May 17th, 1983, n. 217, is abrogated from the date in which came into force the decree, article 2, paragraph 4, of the present law.
7. So far the passing of regional guidelines of adaptation to the document that contains the plan, article 2, paragraph 4, of the present law is applied the discipline regarding the minimum surfaces and volumes of hotel rooms foreseen by article 4 of the decree on May 24th, 1925, n. 1102, and following modifications, and for items a) of paragraph 1 of the article 7 of the decree-law on March 29th, 1995, n. 97, converted, with modifications, by the law on May 30th, 1995, n. 203, modified by paragraph 7 of article 16 of the law on August 7th, 1997, n. 266.
8. After the lapse starting from the same date, paragraph 7, cease to have applications the dispositions, excluding paragraph 2 of article 01, of the decree-law of October 5th, 1993, n. 400, converted, with modifications, for the law on December 4th, 1993, n. 494, relative to concessions of maritime real estate goods with tourist-recreational purpose that turn out incompatible with the new discipline reviewed in the document that contains the guidelines , article 2, paragraph 4, item l), of the present law and with the regional discipline of acceptance or adaptation to the same guidelines.
Art. 12.
(Financial covering)
1. For the financing of the Fund, article 6, it’s authorized the expense of 270 thousand million liras for year 2000, of 80 thousand million liras for year 2001, of 55 thousand millions for year 2002 and of 5 thousand millions for year 2003.
2. The expense derived of paragraph 1 it’s foreseen that, for year 2000, through a corresponding reduction of the inscribed assignment, for the triennial balance 2000-2002, in the area of anticipation of base capital account "special Fund" of the anticipating state of the Treasure Ministry, of balance and economic programming for the financial year 2000, partially using the relative storage to the same Ministry, and, for he triennium 2001-2003, by means of the corresponding reduction of the inscribed assignment for the triennial balance 2001-2003, in the framework of the anticipation unit of the capital base “special Fund” of the anticipation state of the Treasure Ministry, of the balance and economic programming for the financial year 2001, partially using the relative storage to the same Ministry. The Treasure Ministry, of balance and economic programming is authorized to contribute, by its own decrees, the needed variations of balance.
3. After the lapse since year 2004 the global assignment of the Fund, article 6, is determined by the financial law with the modalities, article 11, paragraph 3, item f), of the law on August 5th, 1978, n. 468, and successive modifications.
SEE ALSO:
Hotels Guide
Hotels search engine
Lodges directory |
