‘Dangerous’ EU rules worry ops
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THE TRAVEL industry could be hit by new EU regulations that would prevent operators adding supplements and cancelling tour departures. The Consumer Rights Directive, currently going through the European Parliament, could be “dangerous” for travel, according to Tui Travel director of European affairs Claude Perignon. Speaking at the Aito Conference in Brussels, Perignon said the directive was intended to give consumers rights across all sectors. “It could be dangerous for us as it could prevent prices being changed after contract, which would stop us adding fuel or currency supplements. “It could also stop us cancelling a departure due to lack of participants. We are in favour of con- sumer protection but it has to be proportionate.” Luke Pollard, Abta’s head of public affairs, said he was working with the European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Associations to ensure it did not include proposals that could harm the industry. “It is good for consumers, but we have to make
sure there are no unintended consequences that could have a negative impact on travel,” he said. He added that he would prefer any proposals about travel to be included in the Package Travel Directive instead of the consumer directive. Approval is expected to take several years.
Cook and Spanish near to peace deal
THOMAS COOK is inching towards a deal with Spanish hoteliers over the 5% cuts it has imposed on its own hotel bills. Cook and the Confederation of Hotels and
Tourist Accommodation Establishments (Cehat) are believed to be finalising an agreement thrashed out at World Travel Market two weeks ago, with Cook committing to increase capacity to Spain next year (TTG, November 5). Last month, Cehat said it had launched legal
action against Cook over the discount on August and September invoices – a move also threatened by the Jamaican Hotel & Tourist Association.
04 26.11.2010
26.11.2010
Dertour to take on Cook and Tui
Rob Gill. GERMAN TOUR operator giant Rewe is aiming to give agents an alternative to the “big two” by opening up its worldwide product range to the UK through its Dertour brand. Dertour said it was providing access to its full
programme to give independents more choice, but has promised not to “dump its whole portfolio on to the UK market”. Instead, Dertour plans to meet with major
consortia such as Advantage and TTA Worldchoice in the next few weeks to find out what products the independent sector needs. UK managing director Julie Craig said: “We have access to a global product
which covers pretty much everything worldwide. We will speak to the consortia to see what their needs are and try to fill those gaps.” Dertour UK currently specialises in Germany and central Europe, but new technology lets it offer all of its worldwide product. Dertour plans to sell under its own brand and Atol licence. “If a consortium was short of beds in North America we could contract beds for them, ensuring accommodation was suitable for the UK market,” said Dertour UK head of marketing Tim Locke. “We can help people who are getting
squeezed by other large operators – we know product is getting tight in some areas.” Julia Lo Bue-Said, Advantage’s leisure director, said a meeting had already been scheduled with Dertour. “We would look at any opportunity to
sell product that does not compete with what we sell – particularly if it’s some- thing we do not have access to,” she added.
TTA Worldchoice group marketing director Eleanor Sheppard said: “If Rewe offers quality product at value-for-money prices I can’t see why our members wouldn’t consider selling it.” Dave Clayton, Global Travel Group’s commercial
Julie Craig will speak to consortia about adding product
director, said: “We will always listen to people who have good, new product.” Rewe Group is the second largest tour operator in Germany after Tui, and had an annual turnover of ¤51 billion in 2009.
‘Travel has not learned ash lessons’
AITO CHAIRMAN Derek Moore fears there could be a “rerun” of the ash cloud crisis because the industry has not learned its lessons from the event. Moore told TTG: “The sad thing is that the ash cloud showed how little all parties – consumers, operators, agents, airlines and insurers – knew about where they stood in this situation. “We should have had an industry-wide
debriefing after the ash cloud, but that didn’t happen and I think it is a near certainty that, when the next natural disaster comes along, we will have a rerun of what happened this year.” He also called for Aito, Abta and the Passenger Shipping Association to hold joint quarterly meetings with the government to give ministers a clearer and broader perspective on the industry.
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