Aito eyes financial protection growth Juliet Dennis


Aito, The Specialist Travel Association, is hoping to provide financial protection of pipeline monies within the next year and could offer Atol protection for its members in future. Aito revealed the plans at the


launch of Aito Financial Protection Services (AFPS), its financial protection scheme for non-licensable packages, which went live this week. The two planned services are


billed as part of a raft of financial services Aito could offer as it aims to expand to 150 tour operator members by 2027-28. It would allow members to


organise all their financial protection


through one body, said Christina Brazier, head of industry affairs. “Our aim is to deliver something


for the benefit of members. The [next] priorities are pipeline monies and Atol protection,” she said. The protection of pipeline monies


is intended to help Aito members who are not members of Abta. It refers to funds held by travel agents before being passed on to a tour operator. For members not in Abta their pipelines monies may not currently be protected in the event of a travel agency failure. Aito deputy chairman Martin


Garland said there was demand among members for a scheme to protect pipeline monies and said having financial protection


Dnata UK credits deals as US sales increase by 30%


Lucy Huxley


Gold Medal parent dnata Travel Group UK has credited targeted deals and improved affordability for a 30% increase in US sales this year. The upturn appears to belie


fears of a slowdown in transatlantic sales, with USAirtours estimating the market to be 5%-8% down and New York reducing its UK visitor forecast for 2025 by 15% (Travel Weekly, June 26). Lesley Rollo, dnata Travel Group UK chief executive, said: “Over the last few months, we’ve seen – across all of our brands – growth on last year of about 30% for the US.”


6 3 JULY 2025 She said a “conscious decision”


was made three or four months ago amid news of “keen” US airfares. “We had word from purchasers


based in the US that a lot of the domestic market weren’t travelling so much,” she said. It meant brands could offer “some


great deals”, she added, noting a more favourable exchange rate too. Simon Applebaum, managing


director of B2B operator Gold Medal and sister brands Cruise Plus, Incredible Journeys and Pure Luxury, said: “We have our Florida business, which is huge. “Brits almost see [Florida]


as its own island. It doesn’t seem


to follow trends [like] the rest of the States does,” he said. “Our business into New York has


been softer. Our business into Vegas is quite spiky, because it’s becoming more and more event-driven.” He added: “Of all the businesses


in the dnata portfolio globally, we [Gold Medal] – for the third year – have grown the most. We are adding products all the time, which means we can service more agents [and] we’re finding new customers.” Applebaum plans to add cruise


services in one place could be “very attractive” to smaller businesses. He added: “I would be disappointed if, within the next year, we have not got pipeline money protection.” Atol protection will depend on


Atol reform, added Brazier, and there is no current timescale. She said: “Atol protection will be


born out of demand. Many members already have cost-effective protection


with the Civil Aviation Authority, but if Atol reform changes the landscape, that would change it in our batting order. “There is no time scale for this,


but we have had discussions with the CAA [about an Atol franchise].” The Atol plans were revealed


as Aito described the new AFPS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aito, as a ‘game changer’ for small and medium-sized travel businesses. It will cover non-flight packages


as well as single components such as accommodation-only from September 1 this year. It is open only to Aito members


and tailored to businesses with non-licensable turnover of up to £5 million.


Lesley Rollo


Simon Applebaum


and touring to Gold Medal’s ‘Curated Offers’ range and pledged to improve the operator’s documentation. Rollo and Applebaum spoke


to Travel Weekly last week during Gold Medal’s Big Day Out event near Chester, at which the operator hosted 90 agents and 28 suppliers.


Watch the interviews with Rollo and Applebaum at: travelweekly.co.uk


travelweekly.co.uk


PICTURE: Karen Dexter Photography


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