2 July 2015 | travelweekly.co.uk business Essential news, comment and analysis TOP STORY TUI AND IGLU


CLASH OVER NEW


DIRECTIVE Tui’s Mike


Bowers: ‘Will it be truly


understood by the consumer?’


BOWERS AND DOWNS TAKE DIFFERENT


VIEWS OF THE PTD’S


NEW CATEGORY. LEE HAYHURST REPORTS FROM THE ABTA


TRAVEL MATTERS CONFERENCE


Two leading industry figures clashed at the Abta Travel Matters conference last week over whether the new EU Package Travel Directive (PTD) would be better for consumers. Mike Bowers, Tui Group legal counsel, said a new category of travel, the Assisted Travel Arrangement (ATA), which offers financial protection but not the full protection of a traditional package, was potentially confusing.


80 • travelweekly.co.uk — 2 July 2015


He said Tui had been hoping


for something “which was simple and as comprehensive as it could be” for consumers, and the firm recognised “all the efforts that have gone in that direction”. But he added: “It’s not necessarily how we would have written it. One area of concern is the simplicity point: when you introduce a new category, will it be truly understood by the consumer?” But Richard Downs, an Abta


board member and chief executive of online retailer Iglu.com, said the ATA categorisation potentially allowed agents to avoid some of the financial burdens associated with taking the responsibility of a tour organiser.


He said a lot of consumers


still preferred package holidays, but most – 54%, according to a European Commission study


CONTINUED ON PAGE 78


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84