NOTABLE RECRUITS FROM
CRUISING AND DOMESTIC TOURISM

THE FIRST HALF OF THIS FINANCIAL YEAR SAW THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY STRUGGLING WITH HIGH FUEL PRICES AND UNFAVOURABLE EXCHANGE RATES. THESE MARKET CONDITIONS LED TO THE FAILURE IN SEPTEMBER OF THE UK'S THIRD LARGEST TOUR OPERATOR, THE XL LEISURE GROUP.

The Civil Aviation Authority with help from two leading ABTA Members arranged for the repatriation of over 80,000 customers, the largest such operation in the history of the industry. ABTA used the opportunity to emphasise the financial protection offered to those on packages as opposed to those who had booked direct with XL Airways.

With Members already struggling with tough trading conditions, the recession caused by severe problems in the financial markets has contributed to a downturn in the number of UK visits abroad, 61.4 million down from 70.7 million in the previous twelve months. Further capacity cuts helped maintain profit margins, but pressure on Members' businesses remains intense.

We welcomed 66 new Members, five more than the previous year, with some notable recruits from the cruising and domestic tourism sectors. Overall numbers declined by 70 to 1,351 with branches down by 60 to 5,689. Membership of the Travel Industry Partner scheme rose to 201, an increase of 10% on the previous year.

Failure levels rose to 53 from 30 including dual Members and the amount paid out in claims totalled £2,557,056. Some of these failures highlighted the problem of suppliers refusing to honour payments collected by failed retailers. This resulted in customers losing their travel arrangements and potentially their money. We addressed this issue at a General Meeting in October 2009 where the membership voted to make it a requirement of the Articles of Association that all payments collected by agents must be honoured by ABTA Members reaffirming our commitment to customer protection.

We also addressed the wider areas of financial protection through our proposal to the Civil Aviation Authority and Government that the ATOL scheme be widened to include all companies selling flights and accommodation whether or not they are legally a package. This lobbying approach is complemented by our proposal to the European Commission that they should introduce a simple, inclusive scheme for all travel arrangements as they conduct a review of the Package Travel Regulations. Press statements from the Commission indicate that they will be introducing a much wider-ranging scheme and also that they are looking at the largest unprotected area, sales of scheduled airline tickets. We have also continued to lobby Government against the unjustifiable hikes in Air Passenger Duty as well as raising public awareness of the rises through an ongoing PR and media campaign.

Our move to new offices in February has allowed us to create a better integrated work environment with greater understanding and easier cooperation between different departments. One of the greatest benefits has been the highly successful incorporation of the Federation of Tour Operators as a department within ABTA's secretariat. The FTO's expertise in health and safety and operational matters has proved invaluable in providing expert guidance to the whole membership. A prime example of this was the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico in February and after it spread to the UK in April, when our comments and advice were led by FTO staff. The Travelife Sustainability system developed by the FTO has gone from strength to strength with, amongst others, Kuoni, Sunvil and Cooperative Travel the latest ABTA Members to sign up as well as the municipality of Calvia in Mallorca, which contains the largest concentration of hotel beds in the world. Currently over 11,000 users have signed up to the scheme, an increase of almost 300% in six months.

The press team conducted 80 television and over 350 radio interviews over the course of the year helping to maintain our high public profile. Major subjects included the XL failure, swine flu and the week long blockade of Bangkok airport allowing us to emphasise the help and protection being offered by ABTA and its Members to our customers in stark contrast to the experience of independent travellers.

The new website has developed well since its launch in April 2008 and now runs to over 200 pages plus 250 documents. The team updates 30 to 40 items of information each month to ensure that the editorial content remains up to date, and has added new features and functions. More importantly, the site is continuing to deliver sales leads to Members in the form of click-throughs- more than 1.3 million during the year.

Finally I would like to extend thanks to Justin Fleming who stood down as ABTA President in July after three years in the role. His leadership through some very challenging times was both inspirational and invaluable. His successor in the new role of Chairman, John McEwan has already impressed with his profound knowledge of the industry and his ability to communicate a very clear vision of where ABTA is currently and where we should be heading.