AITO ‘cautiously’ accepts £3 ATOL fee
The Association of Independent Tour Operators has cautiously accepted the £3 per person figure mooted by the CAA in respect of financial protection for passengers.
Its chairman Derek Moore said: “No-one likes to see costs increasing, particularly in these beleaguered times, but £3 per person is probably what most tour operator members would have found themselves paying, in the current economic climate, to insurance companies for bonds under the old system.
“It’s important to remember, too, what this £3 buys for passengers, which can be worth many thousands of pounds to them if something goes wrong; this is a very valuable piece of protection, extremely well worth having from the consumer perspective.
“We haven’t of course studied the proposals in depth yet but, on the face of it, what the CAA says seems to make sound sense in the current economic climate.â€
Moore said AITO would be going out to its 150 tour operating members to seek individual company input before going back formally to the CAA.
But ABTA has voiced its opposition to the increase, calling instead for a complete overhaul of the protection scheme.
“We have made clear to the Department for Transport and the CAA our members’ frustration and disappointment at the prospect of an increase in APC, so soon after it was launched at the rate of £1 per passenger,” said its chief executive Mark Tanzer yesterday.
By Bev Fearis
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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