Hurricanes highlight value of bonding – TravelMole Comment by J Skidmore
A week – or two – is a long time in the travel industry.
Very recently ABTA was, with some justification, being criticised in all quarters following the collapse of Travelscene.
ABTA and the short break operator’s sales director John Harding who, of course, was the association’s president, championed the consumer protection they offered. Unfortunately, one of Travelscene’s subsidiaries, Citybedz, was unbonded.
We all know that no laws were broken and it was quite possible for an ABTA member to have an unbonded subsidiary. But, as I said in an earlier comment, the whole system is incomprehensible to holidaymakers and impossible to justify.
Sensing a PR disaster, ABTA decided it would pay out to Citybedz customers anyway.
Questions over the role of ABTA and the point of booking with a bonded company subsided.
More recently, attention has been focused on the hurricanes wreaking havoc in parts of Florida and the Caribbean.
It would be inappropriate to make flippant remarks about events which have cost lives and wrecked homes.
But, unquestionably, the way ABTA-member tour operators have looked after their customers in the wake of hurricanes Frances and Ivan must have been like a breath of fresh air to the association.
Virgin Atlantic had around 8,000 people in the area and Thomson Holidays around half that number. They, and other tour operators, have provided people with extra accommodation, food and drink for those unable to leave and arranged extra flights to take them home when airports have re-opened.
Some people have needed to be switched to alternative hotels and that has all been sorted out with the minimum of fuss.
Not only that, tour operators have had staff on the ground to provide re-assurance during a potentially frightening period.
The companies, which have bonds with the Civil Aviation Authority and are members of ABTA, have rightly been wary about making too much political capital out of the tragedies. But the value of travelling on a package holiday has been highlighted like never before.
Anyone independently arranging their own accommodation in Florida or the Caribbean would have been stranded, facing the prospect of extra bills to stay on if they couldn’t get home. There would have been no friendly rep to help and advise them or, if necessary, arrange alternative hotel accommodation.
Suddenly the public has realised the value of bonding.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
Phil Davies
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
TAP Air Portugal to operate 29 flights due to strike on December 11
Qatar Airways offers flexible payment options for European travellers
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt
Air Mauritius reduces frequencies to Europe and Asia for the holiday season
Major rail disruptions around and in Berlin until early 2026