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According to the AG, there is already a lack of information on the part of the travel agency. The tour operator must inform the traveler about “general passport and visa requirements of the country of destination”, including the approximate deadlines for obtaining a visa.
However, this does not include the reference to the necessity of having a (valid) passport. The traveler should be made aware of circumstances that may be unknown to him, because he wants to explore unfamiliar territory with the trip. The tour operator took over the organization required for this and thus compensated for an information gap towards the traveler.
However, the obligation to provide information about general passport and visa requirements only relates to those requirements that result from the travel or transit country that the traveler wants to enter.
Passport is a matter of course when traveling
The Federal Court of Justice has already decided that the “validity” of a passport for a trip is a matter of course and not a requirement arising from the destination country itself, to which the traveler must be informed.
The “existence” of a passport must then be taken for granted, the AG continued. The fact that a travel document is required is not only known and obvious to experienced tourists. General life experience alone suggests that the term “travel” passport means that a corresponding document is fundamentally required for travel.
Something else cannot result from the fact that the special feature applies within the EU, which makes the existence of an identity card sufficient for travel within the EU borders. Freedom of movement is an exception under Union law for travel, not the rule.
on AG Munich, judgment of 12.07.2023 – 171 C 3319/23
Editorial office beck-aktuell, 7 Aug 2023.
Related Links
From the database Beck-online
BGH, information obligations of the tour operator about entry regulations, NJW 2014, 2955
LG Duisburg, Scope of the tour operator’s obligation to provide information to foreigners, NJW-RR 2013, 59
AG Bad Homburg, note from the tour operator that a passport is required for Bulgaria, NJW-RR 1996, 1208