P5 news mar27 25/3/09 20:40 Page 5
ttglive.com
news
In brief
■ Abta’s David Marshall made redundant
Abta head of policy David Marshall has left the
Freudmann faces
association after the post he held was made
redundant following the merger with the FTO.
Head of operations Carol Hale is also due to
leave. Marshall was brought in for his lobbying
experience after Keith Betton left in 2007. Since
Abta’s questions
the merger, much of the lobbying has been
carried out by Andy Cooper, FTO director-general.
■ New European VAT rules to hit travel firms
Chris Gray & Lee Hayhurst.
“He was director
ing after 20 years on the
New European VAT rules due to come in next year ABTA board members were board if the failure of a
could have a major impact on travel companies. due today to demand Steven
of a firm that
company in which I had no
Sectors such as car hire and travel management Freudmann explain his role
refused to pay
direct management control
companies will be affected from January 1 be- in the collapse of Unpack- should affect my position,”
cause VAT will apply in the country where the aged Holidays amid calls for
its bills – it’s a
he said on Wednesday.
customer is located. The warning was made by his resignation.
mockery of Abta”
Abta director Hugh Mor-
David Bennett, VAT partner at accountancy firm Freudmann, who was a gan, Cosmos Holidays’ over-
Saffrey Champness, at an Abta Travel Update 2009. director of his brother Tony’s Unpackaged seas director, said he had “a huge amount of
Holidays until a few weeks before it went bust, sympathy” for unsecured creditors of Unpackaged,
■ Spanish government pledges to revamp Toms was due to attend a board meeting in including Jumbo Tours and Hotelbeds, which he
Proposals to revamp the Tour Operators’ Margin Majorca. Creditors claim Freudmann’s links to claimed were owed more than £500,000.
Scheme are expected to be among the priorities Unpackaged’s collapse has undermined his role “Unfortunately companies go bust; but in this
for the European Commission next year when as an Abta director and chairman of its code of case, it does not look very good,” he said.
Spain takes over the EU presidency. The Spanish conduct committee. “If you sit on the [Abta] board and chair the code
government told the country’s equivalent of Abta The firm collapsed owing more than £1 million. of conduct committee, while you may not have
that it will put Toms on its agenda. Toms is due Unpackaged was funded by Alpha Prospects, done anything wrong, it’s worth a discussion.”
to be introduced in Ireland and Denmark, which chaired by Steven, and its assets were sold in a Calls for Freudmann to resign have come from
are currently allowed to be outside the scheme. controversial “pre-pack” deal to The Travel Club, Paul Evans, chief executive of Lowcost Travel
one of Tony’s other companies, also owned by Group, whose Resorthoppa subsidiary is owed
■ Emirates staff praised over ‘bomb’ incident Alpha. Tony is also the second-largest share- £25,000, and US-based Elite Vacations, owed
Getabed.com managing director Matthew Stuart holder of Alpha, which has also lost the $90,000.
has praised the response by Emirates staff after £500,000 it invested in Unpackaged. Unpackaged was fined by Abta for non-
he was caught up in a 10-hour ordeal during a Steven Freudmann told TTG he would strongly payment of bills to Elite Vacations.
hoax bomb scare. Stuart was one of 184 passen- defend himself at today’s meeting. He said he Sales manager Rob Dempster said: “Steven
gers on Sunday’s Gatwick-bound flight from had no management role at Unpackaged, which Freudmann was a director of Abta and a director
Dubai. Describing the incident as “pretty grim”, traded as Seligo, and had broken no Abta rules. of a company that refused to pay its bills.
he praised the crew for being reassuring. “I will tell them I would find it very disappoint- “It makes a bit of a mockery of Abta.”
Read the full story on ttglive.com
■ Icelandair unveils Heathrow-Seattle link
Icelandair is to start a four-times-a-week service
between Heathrow and Seattle via Reykjavik on
July 22. Flights will depart London at 13.00
and arrive at Seattle at 16.45. The airline said
passengers could stopover in Iceland with no
extra air fare.
■ Libra adds summer Gatwick-Crete flights
Libra Holidays is adding an extra weekly
departure from Gatwick to Heraklion in Crete
from July 12 to September 27. Peter Kyriakou,
Libra’s head of aviation, said there had been an
increase in demand during the peak period. TUNING IN: These Co-operative Travel agents were at BBC Radio Merseyside as part of their
apprentice programme to learn about Liverpool in its year as European capital of culture.
ttglive.com
For the latest news, reviews and comment
Over the course of the year the young agents performed at the Cabin Club, wrote a front
from the travel industry, visit ttglive.com page for the Liverpool Echo, were interviewed on local radio and recorded a demo disc.
27.03.2009 05
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