On a cold and grey January afternoon in Brussels, I take my seat on the Eurostar heading back to London. Having wrapped up a full day of meetings with the European institutions on a range of issues as diverse as tourism promotion, tourism accommodation safety, air passenger rights, and Brexit, now seems a good time to reflect.
Reflection seems sensible not least because Brussels – and the UK’s membership of the EU – is likely to dominate the news cycle in the year ahead; but also because significant regulatory progress has been made on some key Brussels initiatives, and these changes will start to blow across the North Sea very soon.
In 2015 we saw the completion of the Package Travel Directive revision process, and significant progress made on the Data Protection Package. What can we expect in 2016?
On January 1, the clock began ticking on the UK implementation of the revised PTD. This year will see the UK government consult on changes, which could include big changes to financial protection rules.
For travel businesses organising business travel, a lobbying effort on the ground in Brussels ensured that business travel arrangements will be exempt from the directive. For those already trading as package organisers, many of the changes will be minimal. For many others, particularly those engaged in dynamic packaging or “flight-plus”, the changes are more extensive.
Other booking processes that don’t result in the creation of a package could still come under the directive under a new type of holiday arrangement, called a Linked Travel Arrangement (LTA). LTAs will likely bring many airline click-through sales into the scope of the directive.
The UK government will have 24 months to implement the EU’s changes in UK law, with the revised laws likely to come into effect in January 2018.
The EU is also attempting to harmonise data protection rules across all EU member states and some changes around consent requirements are likely to require travel businesses to consider their processes. Four years of debate led to agreement in December by the EU institutions, and the Data Protection Package will be finalised soon and come into effect in early 2018.
Much focus is falling on the British question, and whether the UK will continue to be a member of the EU.
Either late this spring, or early in the autumn, the UK public will have a choice as to whether the UK should remain a part of the EU, or leave.
Here’s what we know: the outcome of the PM’s renegotiation will not be announced until February; most of the cabinet is lining up on the “in” side; and the debate will be bruising for politicians and business leaders on both sides. The list of unknowns contains the referendum date; what the PM has managed to negotiate; and the impact on the travel industry.
This is an important decision for the UK, and Abta will be playing our part to give members the tools to make an informed decision.
