As part of its submission to the European Commission, ABTA called for the Package Travel Directive to be re-written on the grounds that it is out-of-date and totally irrelevant to…
As part of its submission to the European Commission, ABTA called for the Package Travel Directive to be re-written on the grounds that it is out-of-date and totally irrelevant to today`s travel industry.
ABTA Chief Executive, Mark Tanzer, said: This piece of legislation has clearly passed its sell-by date. ABTA is calling for a `New Approach` that would address issues which are currently of concern to all travelling consumers not just those covered by the Package Travel Directive. We need to be bold in our approach to consumer protection, there are many travellers who mistakenly assume that they and their travel arrangements are automatically protected – they are not.
The key points of ABTA`s `New Approach` are:
- A scheme for repatriation of all consumers in the case of the failure of the transport provider. The restriction of the present scheme of repatriation to package holidaymakers is illogical due to the changed market and leaves millions of consumers at risk of being stranded overseas
- The protection of pre-payments and deposits made by all consumers. The protection of pre-payments and deposits warrants specific regulation. As it stands, it is illogical not to extend that protection to other sectors since it leaves millions of consumers at risk
- All consumers should benefit from the provision of specific information that they are entitled to receive both pre- and post booking/purchase to ensure that they make informed purchasing decisions. It is illogical that this benefit is restricted to package holidaymakers rather than all consumers or all travellers
- Package holidaymakers benefit from specific rules relating to the alteration of the contract and proper performance of the contract for a package holiday. All consumers should benefit from certainty of contractual terms and responsibility. It makes little sense to restrict those benefits to package holidaymakers leaving millions of other consumers and travellers at risk
ABTA considers that implementation of this `New Approach` could be achieved largely through existing consumer protection legislation which would result in a more consistent approach for all sectors of industry and, particularly, the travel industry benefiting both industry and the consumer.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
