TravelManagers: It’s not too late to refine ATAS
TravelManagers says it continues to have concerns regarding the Australian Federation of Travel Agents’ (AFTA) Australian Accreditation Scheme (ATAS).
State licensing of travel agents and the consumer protection afforded by the Travel Compensation Fund (TCF) through the financial oversight of travel agents will cease to exist from June 30.
TravelManagers said in a statement that it now "reluctantly accepts" AFTA’s position that acceptance of ATAS membership has to be voluntary, "but is of the opinion that all ATAS members should be required to have Travel Intermediary Insolvency Insurance".
"TravelManagers view this as the most important issue facing the travel agency community and its supplier partners in 2014," said chairman Barry Mayo.
"TravelManagers’ position is that by ATAS accredited travel intermediaries holding Travel Intermediary Insolvency Insurance as a minimum accreditation requirement, consumers are afforded a similar basic protection from July 1 as currently provided by the TCF," Mayo added.
TravelManagers is calling for the travel agency community to more actively participate in discussion around ATAS.
"The time remaining for any refinement to the scheme is now less than six months.
"Consumer confidence in retail travel distribution is critical and without it your business and the perception of the travel agent could change forever," said Mayo.
Ian Jarrett
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