In December 2015 the PTD was published in the Official Journal of the EU, and requires the UK government to update the current Package Travel Regulations from 1992.
The UK has to transpose the requirements into UK law by January 1 2018, and then has a further six months for the requirements to come into force.
BEIS and the Department for Transport (DfT) are working together to implement PTD 2015, involving a two-step approach to the consultation.
The first stage of the consultation was launched in October 2016 and focused on the specific changes to the Atol scheme that are required to make the scheme fully compliant with PTD 2015. The government has already consulted on proposals to update the Atol scheme to provide insolvency protection for flight packages.
A government response, published on February 9, confirmed that the government will take forward plans to align Atol with the broadened scope of the PTD 2015. These changes will be implemented using the Atol Bill that was announced in the Queen’s Speech on June 21.
BEIS’s consultation, published on August 14, marks the second stage of consultation and will discuss the overarching proposals for implementing PTD 2015 as a whole, through updating the Package Travel Regulations (1992). This focuses on the overall insolvency arrangements for both flight (Atol) and non-flight packages.
The new directive imposes several requirements on government and the travel industry. In a number of areas BEIS can choose how to implement the directive.
Proposals outlined in the consultation include:
• An extension to current protections to cover the millions of UK holidaymakers who buy package holidays 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
• Ensuring the business that puts the package together is responsible for the entire holiday – even if some elements will be fulfilled by third parties
In particular, the consultation is seeking views on:
- Modes of insolvency protection for packages that do not include a flight. Would the options currently in place still be viable under the new regime?
- The new concept of Linked Travel Arrangements (LTAs).
- The creation of a UK central contact point that will respond to other EU member states regarding UK established organisers’ insolvency regimes.
- Minimum harmonisation provisions. These are provisions that the UK has a choice on whether to implement.
- There are some areas where the UK has flexibility on how to implement the directive.
The consultation document reads: “While consumers may be under the impression that they are buying or arranging a protected package, in many cases these arrangements do not meet the definition of a package and consumers do not benefit from the same levels of protection as those that book via a traditional package organising business.”
An Abta spokesperson said: “While we welcome this consultation, we need to better understand how the UK government proposes translating these principles into UK law and have yet to see the draft wording for the new UK Package Travel Regulations.
“Such clarity is essential for the public to fully understand what will or will not be protected.
“Travel businesses also need to be given enough time to respond to the draft regulations and make any necessary changes to their business.
“We need the government to move swiftly in sharing the detail behind these broader proposals.”
The current government view is that the new PTD will apply to bookings made after July 1 - not those booked before which depart after.
Responses need to be made by September 25 and BEIS said in it would particularly welcome feedback from package organisers.
