ABTA CALLS FOR WIDER FINANCIAL PROTECTION FOR HOLIDAYMAKERS
Date published: 11 June 2009A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) consultation on increasing the ATOL passenger contribution (APC) levy which gives some consumers financial protection when they travel, has triggered a call for an overhaul of the scheme from ABTA.
ABTA believes that the focus of the consultation should be to give protection to more holidaymakers not just those that buy traditional package holidays.
The present scheme of protection has not kept pace with the changes in holiday-buying habits meaning that many consumers believe that their money is protected when it isn’t.
A proposal for making these changes to financial protection has already been submitted by ABTA to both the CAA and the Government. If the proposal were to be given the green light, any customer buying a flight plus accommodation would benefit from financial protection, not just those on package holidays.
Currently, customers who buy package holidays that include flights should be protected under the ATOL scheme. Those customers flying on scheduled airlines or who buy elements of their holiday separately may not be protected, causing immense confusion and misunderstanding.
For further information
Sean Tipton, Communications Officer, tel: 020 3117 0513,Frances Tuke, Public Relations Manager, tel: 020 3117 0514, Mobile 07850 712 325,
Casia Zajac, Head of Communications, tel: 020 3117 0515, Mobile: 07545 927 411
Out of Hours: Contact the Duty Press Officer via pager: 07659 190 987
E-mail: press@abta.co.uk
Web: www.abta.com
Notes to editors
ABTA – The Travel Association was founded in 1950 and currently has 1,415 members with 5,900 outlets. Members include travel agents, tour operators and support services right across the spectrum from small family-owned businesses to the largest tour operators.
ABTA is the largest travel association in the UK and its members provide 90% of the foreign package holidays in the UK as well as selling millions of independent travel arrangements.
As part of its comprehensive package of services to members, ABTA, as a non-party political organisation, also provides an effective voice to represent the interests of its Members to government and key opinion formers at the highest levels. In the UK, these include, government ministers, constituency MPs, Select Committee members, senior civil servants and members of the political opposition parties in both Westminster and the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In Europe, ABTA is forming close ties with members of the European Parliament, the European Commission and staff within the Director Generals’ Secretariats. ABTA works in partnership with ECTAA (the European grouping of travel agents and tour operators’ associations) to lobby on interests relevant to its Members.
