Travel Law

We have the expertise to offer both agents and suppliers in the travel industry guidance in whatever stage of growth their business may currently be in. For our clients who are starting new businesses, we provide guidance for choosing and forming the proper business entity to meet our client’s specific needs, whether that means setting up a corporation, joint venture, or partnership, as well as expertise in forming strategic alliances, securing financing and risk management. For clients with established businesses, we draw upon our attorneys’ experience to navigate their continued growth in the ever-changing travel industry, assisting boards of directors and owners in making decisions on corporate governance issues and strategic planning.

Our attorneys understand that necessary to any successful business relationship is the ability of individuals, partnerships, corporations, and other types of entities to enter into binding and legally enforceable agreements. We regularly assist our travel clients in forming, negotiating, executing, and enforcing a wide spectrum of contracts, including supplier, non-disclosure/confidentiality, non-competition and marketing agreements, as well as forming strategic alliances. Our attorneys have specific expertise in helping clients host contests and sweepstakes.

We assist travel agencies, suppliers, hotels, and other travel industry clients with negotiating and drafting employment contracts and independent contractor agreements. Such agreements are structured to protect our clients and to provide our clients with continuity and security. Key provisions of an employment agreement include detailed salary and bonus structures; defined employee benefits (i.e., health insurance, life insurance, vacation time, etc.); termination rights of either party; confidentiality, non-solicitation and non-competition provisions; copyright ownership; and severance benefits. We structure our clients’ independent contractor agreements to clearly detail the relationship between the travel company and the contractor.

Our firm can assist your company in negotiating, drafting, or reviewing agreements with venues, such as hotel and resort facilities, convention facilities, or other event venues, concerning your planned meeting or event at those facilities.  Our assistance can include negotiation of the services and facilities for the event, hotel accommodations, room block attrition, food and beverage service, and can address sensitive issues including insurance provisions, indemnity provisions, and responsibility for security and damages during the event.

For many, purchasing or selling a business is the most important business transaction they will ever undertake. It is often a path riddled with numerous potential hurdles, such as liability risk and taxation issues at both the state and federal level. We strive to assist our clients to understand these issues and to structure the transaction in a manner that achieves their financial and personal goals.

Our firm seeks to provide sophisticated and creative legal representation to both buyers and sellers in connection with mergers, asset acquisitions, stock and equity acquisitions, and other types of business combinations involving privately held (non-public) companies in the travel industry, including travel agencies and suppliers. Whatever the agreement, we handle virtually every aspect of a merger and acquisition transaction and can help guide our clients through the entire process. The scope of our services includes: (1) analyzing and planning the appropriate transaction structure, (2) preparing and negotiating letters of intent and confidentiality agreements, (3) conducting legal and business due diligence and investigation, (4) analyzing, preparing, and negotiating acquisition agreements and ancillary documents such as employment agreements, consulting agreements, stock options, and real estate leases, and (5) coordinating and negotiating with third parties who are affected by the transaction, including lenders, landlords, governmental agencies, and other business relations.

Our firm can assist in all stages of contest and promotion planning and implementation, including recommending the appropriate structure for the promotion in order to comply with state laws and regulations, preparing any necessary government filings, and drafting all necessary documentation such as contest rules, entry forms, prize supplier agreements, and winners’ eligibility affidavits and liability waivers.

Because of our firm’s travel industry experience, we are able to analyze and assess your travel company’s areas of risk and potential liability in order to recommend and help implement appropriate risk minimization strategies. This planning typically consists of recommending appropriate types and levels of insurance coverage, which coverage is often specific for the travel industry, and developing strategies to avoid potential disputes and lawsuits through the use of appropriate disclaimers, releases, liability waivers and other written agreements.

Our firm can assist your travel company in determining when seller of travel registration is appropriate, preparing and filing applications necessary to obtain seller of travel registrations, preparing and filing documents necessary to renew such registrations, and other related seller of travel issues. We can also help decide the appropriate method of displaying seller of travel registration numbers in advertising materials and websites.