Reporting bogus sites made easier Juliet Dennis


Travel agents will be able to report and search for bogus websites following updates to the industry’s only intelligence database of fraudsters. The Travel Industry Intelligence


Hub, a web-based encrypted database of confirmed fraudsters, has negotiated for agents to have access to domain name suppliers via a reporting system called Domain Trust. The agreement means agents


can report fraudulent sites, or search those already reported, to domain name suppliers, which handle the reservation of domain names and the assignment of IP addresses to those domain names.


The suppliers help enforcement


bodies, such as the police, to take down sites. The IP addresses of domain names can be blocked or sites taken down by the suppliers. More than 100,000 websites are


reported to Domain Trust every week by organisations worldwide including regulators and the police. Barry Gooch, chairman of


anti-fraud trade group Profit, said the new reporting system was rolled out last week and training had begun for agency consortia members of the intelligence hub’s business module, which also has an encrypted GDPR-compliant database of companies that have been involved in fraud. Gooch stressed the new reporting


Abta discusses two industry ‘priorities’ with trade minister


Ian Taylor


Abta leaders met with trade minister Nigel Huddleston this week to stress the need for youth mobility and a seasonal workers’ scheme to ease some of the industry’s labour issues. Chief executive Mark Tanzer


and director of public affairs Luke Petherbridge met Huddleston on Tuesday. Huddleston knows the industry well having been tourism minister from February 2020 to September 2022 and head of travel at Google UK before entering Parliament in 2015. Petherbridge noted an Abta


4 7 SEPTEMBER 2023


report in June found the number of UK workers in the EU had fallen by 69% since Brexit and said: “Labour mobility is one of our two priorities.” He said: “We’ve detected a


shift in the government attitude on mobility. It has been more positive about bilateral discussions [with EU members], particularly France.” Petherbridge added: “Our second


major policy piece is education. Existing educational courses are being defunded so the industry needs to come up with an alternative. “We convened an industry


working party in May and there is an option available, but we need to get new qualifications approved.


“We’re working with two


education providers and building to present new qualifications next year. We need to tie down the details by February for approval next summer.” In addition to these priorities, he


said: “Our main political engagement is on the value of the industry.” An Abta report last November


estimated the value of UK outbound travel at £49 billion, and Petherbridge said “we’ve made that point to interim tourism minister John Whittingdale” – in post since May as maternity cover for Julia Lopez. Petherbridge argued: “The value


of the November report is that we’re able to show what travel means in


Agents can see if


their website name has been spoofed – it’s the first time they have been able to do this


system was “not perfect”, but said: “It’s a valuable tool. Agents can see if their website name has been spoofed. It’s the first time they have had the opportunity to do this. “Bogus websites divert customers


to another website and firms lose business. It’s a major pathway for fraud; fraudsters will set up sites that sound like a travel company or have similar names.


“The offers will look legitimate


and they will often book the trip for the consumer but not pay the supplier. “This issue has been bubbling


away for a long time and we get reports of it on a fairly regular basis.” Until now, agents could only


report the issue to Action Fraud, the reporting centre for economic and cybercrime in the UK, and there is no guarantee of further action being taken. Current users of the intelligence


hub include Abta, Aito, The Advantage Travel Partnership, The Travel Network Group, Hays Travel, Midcounties Co-operative, Protected Trust Services and the Civil Aviation Authority.


Mark Tanzer and Nigel Huddleston


every constituency. The industry’s value will be part of our activity at all three political party conferences and at all our meetings with MPs and candidates in the next year.” He insisted: “An important part of


our messaging is the importance of high street agents.” Abta is planning round-table


discussions at the Conservative and Labour party conferences and a parliamentary drop-in session for MPs and peers with the Tourism Alliance and inbound association UKinbound on September 12, followed by a series of regional round-tables with MPs and parliamentary candidates.


travelweekly.co.uk


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