Facts
The dispute concerns the legal classification of the contract concluded between the parties. The appellant, X. SA, was commissioned by the respondent, Y., to put the latter in contact with the owner of a yacht and to negotiate the terms of its provision, in return for remuneration. The respondent thus successively concluded three charter contracts with different yacht owners.
The question is whether these contracts fall under the Federal Act on Package Travel (LVF) or whether they are brokerage contracts within the meaning of Art. 412 of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO).
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal considers that the LVF is not applicable in this case. Indeed, the provision of a yacht does not constitute a combination of main tourist services within the meaning of the LVF, but only the transfer for consideration of the use of a thing. Furthermore, the respondent organized its own travel to the port of embarkation and its return, without the broker having designed any itinerary.
Furthermore, the Federal Tribunal notes that the appellant did not act as a travel organizer or retailer within the meaning of the LVF, but as a broker for the respondent, remunerated by the latter. The case law has already ruled that the LVF does not apply to…