Agent petition calls for APD reduction in school holidays
Travelzoo’s European MD has started a personal e-petition to help put an end to the ‘Parent Trap’ of government legislation, taxes and operators hiking prices during school holidays.
Richard Singer, a father of one, is urging the major tour operators to review their pricing policies and is also calling on the Government to reduce or remove APD during school holidays to help families.
He has enlisted travel industry partners and Travelzoo UK subscribers to help the e-petition reach the 100,000 signatures required to trigger a debate in the House of Commons by the Backbench Business Committee.
"This is an issue that we, as an industry, need to discuss, debate and eventually solve. British families, through no fault of their own, cannot enjoy or increasingly cannot afford to take an annual summer holiday together because of the combined impact of restrictive legislation on taking children out of school, increasing taxation on travel through APD and the annual price hikes during school holiday dates," said Singer.
"Both personally and in a professional capacity I feel that there must be a more creative solution to solving what we are calling the ‘Parent Trap’ on family holidays."
Singer has identified three steps to help solve the ‘Parent Trap’, which are as follows:
– A more realistic and flexible approach from the UK government to restrictions around when parents can take their children out of school for family holidays. A blanket ban on all family holiday during term time is unworkable and some leniency for parents of young children with good attendance should be considered.
– The suspension or reduction of APD during the school summer holiday weeks to help lessen the cost of flights during this peak period.
– A review by the travel industry, especially the leading tour operators, of what can be done to help families during school holiday periods.
A recent Travelzoo survey revealed that over 70% of families would be put off booking their summer holiday during the peak summer months as the cost is on average 40% higher than at other times of the year.
The survey also revealed that 80% of families feel they are being penalised by the travel industry through the annual price hikes during peak season.
Travelzoo will urge subscribers to sign up to the e-petition through a social-media campaign and push across their email publications and website.
To sign the petition, click here and follow #fighttheparenttrap on twitter.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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