One of the many services valued by ABTA members is the advice and support available from ABTA’s legal experts. The business of selling holidays is subject to a range of regulation from the Package Travel Regulations to general consumer contract law. 

We have lots of tools and guidance to help you navigate these regulations, such as the Code of Conduct which guides you through the law and best practice, and our guidance notes. 

Incidents like last week’s wildfires are a reminder that different customers will have different rights depending on what they booked. And we also know that the busy summer season can often throw up unexpected situations with customers – such as a cancelled flight, a change to the accommodation or not having a valid passport for travel. 

ABTA’s legal team is on hand to help members and is available to respond to any specific questions you may have - you can contact them via email or by phone on membersupport@abta.co.uk 020 3117 0597.

I’d also encourage you to visit the Member Zone to access our advice and guidance - as well as our template documents; we’ve done a lot of the hard work for you in terms of interpreting and applying the regulations, for instance in setting terms and conditions. 

Our work on legal issues extends beyond providing advice to members. We also work very closely with government and regulators on regulatory change, to help them understand the implications of any change for industry and to put forward our members‘ point of view. ATOL reform and the upcoming review of the package travel regulations are a particular focus for us at the moment. 

You can access our legal guidance here. One of the legal team will be joining the conference call next week to advise on legal responsibilities during extreme weather.

Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive