TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY

The Hotel Operator's Liability towards Guests: Accidents, Guests' Property and Package Holidays

A large share of the millions of European tourists who visit Türkiye every year stay in hotels as part of a package holiday. If one of these guests has an accident at the hotel, loses property or suffers a health problem, the hotel operator may face liability towards both the guest and the tour operator. The extent of this liability depends on whether there is a direct contractual relationship with the guest and on the type of damage.

Experience shows that a significant share of such claims, although the incident occurred in Türkiye, are brought against the tour operator in the guest's home country and only later passed on to the hotel by way of recourse. The following sections address the main liability issues that hotel operators and tour operators working with Turkish hotels should be aware of.

The hotel's duty of care

The hotel operator is obliged to take the measures necessary to protect the life and property of guests. This duty extends to all areas and services of the hotel, such as swimming pools, beaches, stairs, lifts, children's play areas and food services. In the event of an accident, the hotel's liability is, as a rule, determined by whether these measures were taken.

Whether warning signs were in place, whether lifeguards were on duty and whether maintenance records were kept regularly play a decisive role in determining liability. It is therefore of great importance that the hotel keeps records documenting its safety measures on a regular basis and, when an incident occurs, immediately secures records from the scene and witness details.

Property brought in by guests

Turkish law subjects the hotel operator to a special liability regime for damage to property that guests bring into the hotel. The hotel operator is liable unless it proves that the damage was caused by the guest, by force majeure or by the nature of the property; where neither the operator nor its staff are at fault, however, this liability is limited to a maximum amount set by law.

Different rules apply to valuables, money and securities. If the hotel operator accepts such items for safekeeping or refuses to accept them, its liability is extended. Information on the use of in-room safes and the recording of items deposited at reception are therefore decisive in disputes. If the guest fails to notify the hotel operator of the damage as soon as it becomes aware of it, the guest's claim based on this special liability lapses.

The package holiday relationship

A guest staying as part of a package holiday has contracted not with the hotel but with the tour operator. Under the consumer protection rules on package travel, the tour operator is liable to the consumer for the proper performance of all services included in the package, even if it does not provide those services itself. In the event of an accident or service failure, the guest therefore often brings the claim against the tour operator in the guest's home country. However, the fact that the guest contracted with the tour operator does not rule out claims for damages that, where the relevant conditions are met, may be brought directly against the hotel operator.

The tour operator, in turn, seeks recourse against the hotel on the basis of the contract between them. The hotel's position at this stage depends on whether the incident was reported in time, whether the hotel had the opportunity to present its own defence and on the liability and insurance provisions of the contract. It should also be borne in mind that recourse claims may be brought long after the incident and on the basis of foreign court judgments.

Insurance

The hotel's third-party liability insurance is the basic protection against such claims. It must be examined separately, however, whether the policy limits cover claims brought abroad and recourse claims. Tour operators also require hotels in their contracts to take out liability insurance with a certain level of cover and to provide them with a copy of the policy.

After an incident

The first steps taken after an accident or a serious complaint largely determine the course of any subsequent dispute. Recording the incident in a detailed report, preserving camera footage, notifying the tour operator and the insurer without delay and wording correspondence with the guest carefully contribute to liability being determined correctly and to avoiding unnecessary admissions.

Conclusion

The hotel operator's liability towards guests is a multi-layered issue that must be considered together with the duty of care, the special rules on guests' property and the recourse relationship arising from package holidays. Documenting safety measures, keeping orderly records of safekeeping and safe deposit practices, clearly structuring liability and insurance provisions in tour operator contracts and acting quickly and in a controlled manner after an incident help strengthen the hotel's position in such claims. Questions relating to tour operator contracts are discussed separately in the relevant article in this section.