The Legal Nature of Hotel Management Agreements under National and EU Law

Sofia Tsiftelidou
Additional contact information
Sofia Tsiftelidou: University of Western Macedonia, Department of International and European Economic Studies

A chapter in Synergizing Management, Culture, and Arts for Tourism Development - Vol. 2, 2026, pp 33-50 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Hotel management agreements (HMAs) have emerged as a significant contractual model within the hospitality sector in Greece and across the European Union. Often characterized as atypical or innominate contracts, HMAs integrate diverse legal elements from traditional civil-law agreements such as leases, mandates, and service contracts. Their hybrid and composite structure poses significant challenges for their legal classification under existing Greek civil law, leading to considerable ambiguity regarding applicable rules, rights, and obligations of the involved parties. This uncertainty has prompted reliance on judicial interpretations and scholarly analysis to clarify these issues in practice. Furthermore, the absence of dedicated statutory provisions exacerbates the complexity surrounding HMAs, creating potential for disputes and market inefficiencies. At the EU level, while there is no specific regulatory framework addressing HMAs directly, overarching principles such as the freedom of establishment and EU competition law shape their interpretation and cross-border applicability. This paper critically examines both Greek national jurisprudence and relevant EU legal influences, arguing for enhanced regulatory recognition and a clearer legislative framework to govern HMAs. Such developments could substantially improve contractual certainty, mitigate disputes, and support sustainable growth within the European hospitality industry.

Keywords: Hotel management agreements; Atypical contracts; Innominate contracts; Greek civil law; EU law; Hospitality industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K12 L83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:prbchp:978-3-032-17534-2_3

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783032175342

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-17534-2_3

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().