Upon conclusion of an international tourism contract, the contracting parties - one of which (the beneficiary) acts as the consumer – are facing legal difficulties, which are addressed by this study from the perspective of the interference between the national law and the European Union law. Thus, one of the primary issues considered herein is that concerning the determination of the applicable law based on which the rights and obligations of the contracting parties are to be established. Secondly, this study examines the applicable procedural rules in the case where a Romanian court is requested to settle a dispute arising from an international tourism contract. Finally, the study deals with the hypothesis where a dispute arising from such a contract is settled by a foreign court, and in particular with the effects of the judgment given by the foreign court on the territory of Romania. The above mentioned issues are the grounds behind this research on the legal status of international tourism contracts, in addition to the fact that, despite the rich contractual practice in the field under consideration, the amount of specialized literature on this subject is rather limited.