Low Cost Holidays quits ABTA
Low Cost Holidays has become the latest travel company to quit ABTA.
Chief executive Paul Evans revealed he had been considering withdrawing from the Association since the departure of Tropical Sky more than a year ago.
As long ago as last June he told TravelMole: "That got us at the lowcosttravelgroup thinking about ABTA’s future and our role within it."
Evans has been an outspoken critic of ABTA’s decision to back the introduction of Flight Plus without the inclusion of airlines and of what he described as its "rather odd scheme of bonding".
He claimed bonds were set "far too high" and said they put "an undue burden" on members at a time when bonding can be difficult to source in a declining insurance market.
As recently as last week, at the Barclays Travel Forum, Evans publically backed Roger Allard to become the next ABTA chairman, but it seems he had already taken the decision to pull out of the Association.
An ABTA spokesman said: "We are not happy when anyone leaves, we always want members to stay in ABTA. Lowcost has their own business reasons for leaving. They have been talking about leaving for quite a while. I do not think this will be a surprise to anyone in the industry."
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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