Introduction to

Tourism &
Hospitality Law
 Students of Hospitality and Tourism Management find
future a lot of opportunities either by establishing their
own businesses such as travel and tour operations,
accommodation establishments, restaurants , theme
parks or working in such establishments as hotel
managers , tour guide ,event planner or servers
 In the operation of these establishments or in the
performance of duty , one may encounter legal
problems or issues that may result to legal or actual
controversies.
 It is for these reasons that students at this early stage
must know the basics or fundamentals of law its
concepts and applications.
Introduction:
The order of any business specially affecting the
tourism and hospitality is dependent on the
implementation and observance of a rule, policy,
standard system, and law.
No enterprise or any business entity can exploit the
environment and natural resources as incidences to
their very existence without being subjective to the
regulations of the local and national governing
authorities.

Business minded people cannot just simply put a

hotel in a feasible place without considering the
legal repercussions.
Law Defined
Law may be defined in various ways;

According to Sanchez Roman , Law is defined as a rule of conduct , just and

obligatory promulgated by legitimate authority of common observance and benefits.
 According to Collins (retrieve, 2018), law is a system of rules that a society or
government develops in order to deal with crime, business agreement, and social
relationship.
The law can also be used to refer to the people who work in this system.
Webster (2018) has defined law as a binding custom or practice of a community; a
rule can conduct or action prescribe or formally recognized as binding or enforced
by a controlling authority.
Characteristic of Law

1. Rule of human conduct

2. Just and obligatory
3. Promulgated by competent authority
4. It must be observed by all.
 The welfare of the people must be taken a paramount consideration “Salus populi est suprema
lex” - The welfare of the people is the supreme law.
 Law is being applied to all regardless of race, gender , status in life .
 Law applicable within the jurisdiction of the whole archipelago should come from the
initiative of the legislative department which comprises the Senate and the Congress.
 Aliens , while temporarily residing in the country are likewise bound to observe the
governing law .
 No man is above the law all is mandated to obey it , regardless of their age , gender social
standing, party and political affiliations.
 The Three Branches of the Government in the Philippines
a. Executive Branch
b. Legislative Branch
c. Judicial Branch (Judiciary)
 Powers of the Three Branches of the Government
1. The Executive Power, (Power of Executive Branch) , or the power to execute , enforce or
implement the law .This power is vested to the President of the Philippines.
2. The legislative Power, (Power of the Legislative Branch), or the power to make, revise ,
repeal or amend the law .This power is vested to the Congress of the Philippines which is
composed of the senate and House of the representatives;
The law passed by the congress is called Statute. A Bill on the other hand is not a law but it is
just a proposal or a draft.
 The Local Government Unit , we have ordinance which is a law that is passed by the
sangguniang Panlalawigan for the province; sangguniang Panglungsod for the city,
Sangguniang Bayan for the municipality and the sangguniang barangay for the barangay.
3. The Judicial Power (Power of the Judicial Branch) is not only a power but also the duty of the
courts of justice to settle actual controversies involving rights which are legally demandable.
 This branch belongs the power to interpret the law.
 The different courts in the Philippines , such as the Municipal Trial Court, Regional Trial
Court, Court of Appeals , Court of Tax Appeals.
 The Supreme Court is the highest court of the land with fifteen justices, the head is called the
Chief Justice while the fourteen are associate justices.
 Tourism Laws versus Hospitality Laws
traditions, natural resources and facilitate the
Tourism Laws involvement of the private sector & local communities

in tourism development activities.

Tourism Law is a unique area of law which involves

general government regulations and specific travel and

Hospitality Laws
hospitality industry rules. According to the United  Hospitality industry is an industry which involves

Nations’ World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the food service, travel, and lodging industries.

purpose of Tourism Law is to provide a legal and Hospitality Law is introduced to regulate hotels,

regulatory framework for the development and restaurants, bars, country clubs and other public

management of tourism, preservation of cultural accommodations, to provide safety measures within

the law to protect the customers.

Tourism Law
Tourism Law also reflects not only the rights of
international and local tourists,
but also the legal responsibilities of inbound-
outbound tour operators.
Tourism Law comes into play when it involves
goods and services rendered and situations
where laws are there to ensure restaurants are
serving food which are safe to consume and
premises which are free from danger.
Tourism Law also plays an important role in
cases or situations involving terrorism, natural
disasters, protests, and disease break-outs where
visitors and tourists should be aware of their
rights and the safety precaution measures that
should or could be taken at the time
Hospitality Law prevention, fire protection and fire-fighting
requirements. For example, the hotel
Every restaurant must abide by the food safety management must ensure that the sign (Exit)
and regulations to ensure purity of food being can indicate the escape route. This may
supplied to customers. inadvertently help to improve the reputation of
Restaurants must practice safe food handling business as the customers can rest easy by
and violation can lead to legal suit being knowing that the place is safe in the event fire
initiated or fine being imposed. breaks out.
On lodging industry, the hotel management has safety and security aspects play a very vital role
the responsibility to ensure that its buildings are in the hospitality industry. Hotel management
safe to be lived in and used. For example, shall at all times ensure no uninvited guest in the
Section 28 of the Fire Services Act 1988 states premise of the hotel and provide adequate
that every designated premise including hotels measure of protection to their guests from any
shall require a fire certificate which are to be criminal harm such as robbery and theft of
renewed annually. Section 29 of the Fire personal belongings arising from their own
Services Act 1988 further states that Fire and negligence.
Rescue Department shall carry out an annual
inspection on the premises to certify that the
premises comply with the life safety, fire
 Kinds of Laws
According to Purpose
1. Substantive law is the set of laws that governs how members of a society
are to behave. It is contrasted with procedural law, which is the set of
procedures for making, administering, and enforcing substantive law.
2. Adjective law – , or rules of court, comprises the rules by which a court
hears and determines what happens in civil, lawsuit, criminal or
administrative proceedings. Protecting certain rights
According to Scope
1.Public law - this law applies to all the state or to particular class of persons in the
state , with equal force and obligation (ex. Political law, criminal law, International
law)
2. Private law – this law relates to class of persons or things.(ex. Commercial Law,
Maritime law, Civil Law).
Constitution Defined

Constitution is the basic principles and laws of a

nation, state or social group that determine the
powers and duties of the government and guarantee
certain rights to the people.
Constitution is the basic and paramount law to
which all other laws must conform and to which all
persons, including the highest official of the land
must defer.

Treaty defined
A treaty is a written agreement between countries in
which they agree to do a particular thing or to help each
other.
Treaties are agreements between nations. They can be
bilateral, between two nations, or multilateral, among
several nations.
Customs and Traditions as bases of
law

 Customs and tradition area also

considered as bases of law which
also form part of the Filipino legal
heritage as the 1987 constitution.
The state shall recognize, respect
and protect the rights of
indigenous cultural communities
to preserved and develop their
cultures tradition and institutions.
A custom is a commonly accepted
manner of behaving or doing
something in a particular society,
place or time. A tradition is the
transmission of customs or beliefs
from generation to generation.
National territory
It is important to include in this book
the national territory provisions
under Article 1 of the 1987
Constitution since one of the factors
to be taken in consideration in the
establishment of hotel, travel agency
and related establishment is the
location of business or its territorial
jurisdiction.
Our national territory to make known
to the whole world the areas over
which we assert title or ownership to
avoid future conflicts with other
nations.
Article 1, Section 1 of the 1987
Constitution provides that the
national territory comprises the
Philippine archipelago , with all the
islands and waters embraced and all
other territories over the Philippines.
Composition of the Philippines territory
• Philippine Archipelago
• All the territories in which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction

Different Domain in the Philippines Territorial Jurisdiction

• Aerial (air)
• Terrestrial (land)
• Fluvial (water)

Internal waters of the Philippines

• the waters around, between and connecting the islands of the archipelago regardless
of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines.
3 Inherent Powers of the Government:
• Police Power - the inherent power of a government to exercise reasonable
control over persons and property within its jurisdiction in the interest of the
general security, health, safety, morals, and welfare except where legally
prohibited.
• Power of Eminent Domain - The Philippine Constitution provides for the power
of eminent domain. The Philippine Constitution provides for the power of eminent
domain, which is the right of the government to take private property for public
use. This power is typically used for projects like roads, bridges, and other
infrastructure.
• Power of Taxation - has been defined as the power of the sovereign to impose
burdens or charges upon persons, property or property rights for the use and
support of the government to be able to discharge its functions.

The power of taxation is the power of the government to acquire revenues.

Bill of rights
 Article III of the Philippine Constitution is the Bill
of Rights. It establishes the relationship of the
individual to the State and defines the rights of the
individual by limiting the lawful powers of the
State. It is one of the most important political
achievements of the Filipinos
Section 1 -No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or
property without due process of law, nor shall any person
be denied the equal protection of the laws.
 Two things must remember in the due process of
law .Every person must be notified of the offense he had
committed . He must be given an opportunity to be
heard.
 Thus, any employee in the hospitality industry cannot be
dismissed from employment without being notified of
the offense he had committed. He must be given a
reasonable time to explain his side.
 Likewise, a municipal mayor cannot order the
foreclosure of any tourism business establishment
without giving the owners notice and opportunity to be
heard.
Due Process of Law has two-fold
aspects to wit

1. Procedural due process – It

refers to the method by which
the law is enforced.
In this particular process , hearing
is necessary before condemnation
The condemnation proceeds only
upon inquiry of the needed facts ,
and judgement is to be given only
after trial.
2. Substantive due process – It
requires the fairness ,justness
reasonable of the law itself.
Section 2
The right of the people to be secured in their houses, papers, and effects against
unreasonable searches and seizures of whatever nature and of whatever nature and
for any purpose shall be inviolable, and no search warrant or warrant of arrest
shall issue except upon probable cause to be determined personally by the judge
after examination under oath or affirmation of the complaint and the witnesses he
may produce and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons
or things to be seized.

Search Warrant Distinguished from warrant of Arrest

Search warrant is an order in writing , issued in the name of the People of the
Philippines , signed by a judge and directed to a peace officer , commanding him
to search for certain personal property and bring to the court or police station.
Warrant of arrest upon probable cause to be determined personally by the judge
after examination under oath affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses
he may produce and particularly describing the person to be arrested.