Endacott sticks by Association of Travel Agents
Steve Endacott, chief executive of online travel agent On Holiday Group has insisted he is still working with other OTAs and high street agents to set up a lobby group, which he hopes will be led by Barrhead Travel boss Bill Munro, as exclusively revealed by TravelMole last week.
ABTA claimed this afternoon that plans for an Association of Travel Agents (ATA), first mooted at the Travel Convention last week by OTAs who are unhappy at ABTA’s stance on amendments to the Package Travel Directive, had been dropped.
But Endacott said nothing had changed. "We have not dropped this. We are pulling it together at the moment. It’s job will be to lobby ABTA …and to lobby the European Union on the Package Travel Directive."
One paper reported that the ATA would be set up as part of ABTA, as an association within an association, but Endacott said this was not the case. It will be set up outside ABTA, he said. A first meeting to confirm Munro as chairman has yet to take place, he added.
ABTA issued a statement which said it would continue to work closely with OTAs to influence and manage the potential impact of the PTD.
It said: "ABTA has been fighting for the interests of its travel agent members since the Package Travel Directive consultation opened in 2009. In particular ABTA has argued strongly in Brussels that pure retailers should not pick up any tour operator liabilities; that agents should be able to put linked, ‘dynamic’ arrangements together while remaining agents; that non-ABTA organisers putting arrangements together via clickthroughs should have the same responsibilities as ABTA members. ABTA’s position is transparent and clear, and we shall continue to make these points on behalf of all ABTA’s members.
"Although the proposed changes to the Directive have not yet been published, we are expecting some specific aspects of the PTD review to particularly affect Online Travel Agents, and ABTA is working closely with its OTA members and other members who are active in ‘dynamic packaging’ to influence and manage the potential impact of the new Directive.
"This is part of ABTA’s normal operating process, and we have not set up an Association within an Association. There are pressing lobbying goals which require ABTA members to pull together, and we look forward to working with all ABTA’s members to carry the case to Brussels."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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