Speaking at the TTG Debate last week, which examined whether regulation is becoming obsolete, Andrew Burnham, partner at accountancy firm MHA MacIntyre Hudson, said a single protection mechanism would strengthen Atol.
“Atol is only protecting flight-included [holidays] – we’ve had Abta and other methodologies including non-flight protection,” he said.
“One could consolidate under one regulator with a simpler system, then there could be more scope and better chance of the consumer understanding the systems.”
Burnham added that he believed it was achievable to consolidate financial protection under one body in a three-year timescale – the length of time before the new Package Travel Directive (PTD) is set to be implemented.
Gary Lewis, chief executive of The Travel Network Group, said that the CAA had been pushing the “one badge for clarity” idea over the past five years.
“You don’t need to know the complexities and intricacies around that as a consumer, but underneath that badge the CAA has spread the risk across different concepts,” he said.
“The only issue is accommodation-only and cruise [which is currently protected by Abta]. If you were to bring that under the Atol badge you would have complete clarity.”
Lewis said this would give consumers a clearer signal as to whether financial protection was in place, preventing another Lowcostholidays-type situation whereby customers believed that they were covered but actually weren’t.
Feefo chief commercial officer Matt Eames agreed.
“Does the consumer bother to ask if they’re 100% protected and whether they’ll get all of their money back [when they’re booking]?” he asked.
“That’s definitely the missing bit. It’s got to be one body that says ‘you are fully protected’ and everyone that is selling to a UK consumer or European in the travel industry has to have that accreditation.”
Meanwhile, the panellists agreed that while Abta served a purpose – and had achieved a lot for the industry as a voice at government level – it was not effective as a financial protection body.
Burnham said: “Abta has a dual role. It has a role as a trade industry body and it’s performed [well] in that role.”
Panellists cited Abta’s success in helping shape the latest PTD and as a body for holding its members to account. Burnham continued: “It had a wider role as a protection mechanism up until 10 years ago.
“It’s got more limited protection now. But if that does go under the umbrella of Atol I think it would bring a lot more clarity in the market and Abta’s role would become clearer.”
