The UK must transpose the requirements of the European Union’s PTD 15 – updating the current Package Travel Regulations – into law by January 1, and then has a further six months for them to be implemented.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Department for Transport are working together on the introduction.
The first stage of the consultation, released by the Department for Transport in 2016, focused on the specific changes to the Atol scheme, whereas BEIS’s consultation, released on Monday, discusses the proposals for implementing PTD 2015 as a whole, focusing on the overall insolvency arrangements for both flight (Atol) and non-flight packages.
Proposals include an extension to current protections to cover UK holidaymakers who buy packages online; a requirement for better information to be provided to travellers at the point of booking, making it clear what their rights to refund are; and ensuring the business that puts the package together is responsible for the entire holiday – even if some elements are fulfilled by third parties.
Alan Bowen – legal adviser to the Association of Atol Companies – believes the consultation falls short in a number of areas, including a “very short” period for consultation, until September 25.
“There has been a complete failure to produce clarity on the main issues… the delays in starting the consultation have resulted in a copy-and-paste approach to implementing the directive,” he said.
He warned that the July 1 introduction date may be “impossible” to meet, with changes to IT systems and a full explanation necessary for smaller agents, who will be “either reverting to being a pure agent for other suppliers or becoming organisers in their own right”.
Bowen added that there had been a “total failure to explain what a package holiday really will be after 2018”. “Where there is a lack of clarity, someone will try to make money by avoiding the regulations,” he warned.”
An Advantage Travel Partnership spokesperson said: “We do have concerns around the deadlines set – which are due to the well-documented delays – in particular in relation to the time it will take to implement new system developments and fully educate the trade.”
An Abta spokesperson agreed its members needed “enough time” to respond and make changes to their businesses.
A BEIS spokesperson said: “We think the consultation is thorough and we are seeking industry feedback.”
