Lastminute switches from Abta to Abtot Ian Taylor
Lastminute and its Swiss-registered holding company BravoNext have left Abta and joined rival bond provider Abtot – the Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust. The departure of the ninth-largest
Atol holder at the end of June means half the top-10 Atol holders and half the top-20 now operate outside Abta. Some like
Booking.com, the
fourth-largest, have never been Abta members. Others like Loveholidays (third-largest) and On the Beach (fifth-largest) quit Abta during the pandemic over its code-of-conduct requirement to refund consumers in full for cancellations due to Covid-19. Lastminute and BravoNext
remained listed as Abta members
as Travel Weekly went to press. But BravoNext ‘trading as
Lastminute.com’ was listed as a member on the Abtot site and the company confirms in its “conditions for the sale of package holidays” that it “is a member of Abtot”. Abta and Abtot are the only
associations approved by the Department for Business to provide bonds to financially protect non-flight packages. Abtot is also an Atol- franchise holder able to facilitate licensing for its 270-plus members. Abta remains larger with 866
head office members and 450 independently owned, managed branch businesses in July last year. Its latest membership figures should be released shortly. A Lastminute spokesperson
InteleTravel plans own tour operation
Lucy Huxley
InteleTravel has unveiled plans to launch its own tour operation after “negotiating the acquisition of a UK tour operator”. Speaking on a visit to the UK,
president and chief executive James Ferrara told Travel Weekly he hopes the move will boost agents’ earnings. “We want to do something that
gives our agents more margin in the sale and not leave them beholden to the 10%-15% commission they get selling other operators’ products,” he said. “We do negotiate better rates for
our agents but it’s always in that kind of range. So instead, we’re looking at creating our own product through
4 6 JULY 2023
the acquisition of an existing tour operator, which would mean a doubling of the margin.” Ferrara said InteleTravel’s own
tour operation would not replace the agency’s relationships with tour operator partners but would rather “add to the portfolio”. He expects agents to continue
to sell the holidays that are right for their customers, regardless of the earning potential, adding that he would “start with a mix of short and long-haul land-based product and see what it develops into”. Ferrara said details of the
acquisition would be revealed soon, adding that the operation would initially launch in the UK with potential to extend to US agents, as
We believe Abtot
offers a comprehensive range of benefits and services that align more closely with our needs
confirmed: “We recently made the decision to transition from our longstanding membership of Abta to join Abtot. This allows us to continue providing our customers with protection while also ensuring we receive better value for our membership fees. “We believe Abtot offers a
comprehensive range of benefits and services that align more closely with our needs and priorities.”
James Ferrara
Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer
said: “Abta is a broad church and companies value different services depending on their business model. Abta remains the most-recognised and trusted travel association brand, which is why our annual renewal rate is typically over 95% and why we continue to welcome new members. “While we’re disappointed if any
member leaves, we don’t comment on individual decisions.” He added: “We’ve never been
the whole industry, but we have a market share of about 70% so represent the bulk of the market. Our members carry many millions of people and this, combined with our expertise and consumer trust in the brand, means we continue to have a strong industry voice.”
the operator being acquired already sells in America. Asked what he might call the new
arm of the business, Ferrara said: “We had a brand years ago in the US called InteleTravel Escapes, so we could resurrect that.” But he said agents would be able
to white-label the system so they could sell it under their own brands. Ferrara said the company is also planning to launch in Germany
later this year, as a springboard to branching out into other European countries, and in Canada in 2024. “The plan was for the UK to
be our beachhead into the EU, but the British public had other ideas [voting for Brexit],” he said. “So we had to revise that plan
and will start now in Germany, which makes sense because of the size of its cruise market and its economy.”
travelweekly.co.uk
PICTURE: Sarah Lucy Brown
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