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OTAs boost their Atols by 600,000
Ben Ireland
ben.ireland@
travelweekly.co.uk
More than half a million more Atol-protected holidays are expected to go on sale this year after a surge in licensed capacity for online travel agents.
Three of the biggest OTAs
have between them increased their Atol licences by more than 600,000 passengers, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) figures show. Alan Bowen, legal adviser to the Association of Atol Companies, said the increases come as firms prepare for changes to package travel regulations in July. He said: “Companies are starting
to recognise that, from July, a lot of the things they are selling as a package will need to go into the Atol system. I don’t think it means they will have a lot more passengers.” April’s Atol renewal figures show On the Beach upped its capacity by 200,000 to take its total to just over 1.3 million, while Love Holidays parent We Love Holidays more than doubled its capacity from 400,000 to 804,000. BravoNext, parent company of
lastminute.com, moved into the top-10 list of Atol-holders with a 13% increase to 385,000.
Lastminute.com, which saw
package holiday sales grow 28% in 2017, said: “We have always protected our holidays in the UK market under the Atol scheme.” It added its increase was “nothing to do with changes to package travel regulations”. On the Beach said it had increased
its Atol in line with “natural growth”, while Love Holidays said its surge was testament to its “focused team” and growth strategy. The EU’s new Package Travel
Directive comes into law on July 1. Existing Flight-Plus packages will cease to exist and become known as ‘Package sale – multiple contract’. Bowen predicted a further surge
in OTA Atol numbers in September, the next renewal deadline and the first after the new package regulations come in. “There’s a real benefit to having
more licensed packages,” he said. Tui, Jet2holidays and Thomas
Cook remain the top-three Atol-holders, with Jet2holidays increasing capacity by 29% compared with April 2017.
TOP ATOL-HOLDERS, Rank April 2017 April 2018 %age APRIL 2018
1 Tui UK
2 Jet2holidays 3 Thomas Cook 4 Expedia
5 On the Beach
6 We Love Holidays 7 British Airways Hols 8 Travel Republic 9 Virgin Holidays 10 BravoNext
5,344,076 2,272,178 2,450,181 1,421,628 893,000 400,093 893,000 620,012 337,623 339,519
5,386,845 2,936,420 2,389,227 1,416,227 1,302,261 804,618 786,000 610,269 388,249 384,737
0.8%
29.2% -2.5% -0.4% 18.3% 101.1% -12% -1.6% 15%
13.3% Source: CAA
Liverpool’s proposed new cruise terminal
Liverpool plans bigger cruise port
Harry Kemble
harry.kemble@
travelweekly.co.uk
Agents have hailed Liverpool City Council’s decision to approve outline plans to build a new, bigger cruise terminal, saying it will boost business.
passengers passengers change
The £50 million facility, which could open as soon as 2020, will enable the port to handle turnarounds by vessels as large as P&O Cruises’ 3,600-passenger ships. The port’s current limit for turnarounds is 1,200 passengers. The terminal will be built on a suspended deck on the River Mersey, replacing the existing terminal on Princes Parade, which handled 61 ship visits in 2016. Agents in the northwest said the
terminal will help attract new- to-cruise passengers to sail from Liverpool rather than drive five hours to Southampton. John Cooper, brand director at
Liverpool-based Vision Cruise, said: “[The existing cruise terminal] has been able to take some smaller ships like those of Fred Olsen and Cruise & Maritime Voyages, but now [the port] wants to get the bigger ships in.
“It is good news for the whole industry, from the Midlands to Scotland. It is great news for the city because it means we do not have to go down to Southampton." Carol Kirkham, of Preston-based agency Kirkham Travel, said: “You cannot always sell a brand to a client. It is sometimes easier to sell an embarkation port. “Hopefully, it will mean that people who have not cruised before will want to cruise from Liverpool.” Elaine Barnes, of Andersons
Travel Worldchoice in Birkenhead, said ex-Liverpool sailings accounted for about 10% of its cruise business. She said: “We are short of
itineraries out of Liverpool. If we can get Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Cunard, we could be going up to 60% or 70%.” In addition to the £50 million to
fund the terminal, £32 million will be spent upgrading the A565 road to support the new terminal. Liverpool is set to host 23 ships
this year, including Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth, Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Magic and CMV’s Magellan. The design of the new terminal
is subject to final approval. › ‘Cut rail fares to ports’, page 10
12 April 2018
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