BUSINESS NEWS
Definition of a package ‘needs to be clarified’
The definition of a package as a flight or accommodation plus another tourist service which makes up a “significant proportion” or “essential element” of a booking should be clarified, according to Trading Standards. It has called for an emphasis on
the ‘essential element’ of a booking and removal of the ‘significant proportion’ part of the definition.
A hotel pool ‘should be classed as an instrinsic facility’
courts, the facilities should be classed as “intrinsic” to the accommodation, while “anything ‘extrinsic’ when linked to the accommodation would be a package”. The CTSI notes: “If access to
The Chartered Trading
Standards Institute (CTSI) also seeks a clarification of when services linked to accommodation might be deemed a package. It argues that where a hotel has a golf course, spa, pool or tennis
these on-site facilities is part of the room rate, it should not count as a travel service. If access is at an addi- tional charge, it would constitute an additional service and if an essential element could be a package.” Trading Standards has also called
for a simplification of the PTRs’ information requirements, noting a recent consumer poll found 73% of respondents only skim or don’t read holiday booking conditions.
Trading Standards urges UK trips to stay in PTRs
Ian Taylor
Trading Standards has come out strongly against proposals for reform of the Package Travel Regulations (PTRs) in a Department for Business and Trade (DBT) call for evidence published last month. The Chartered Trading Standards
Institute (CTSI) has urged the government not to exclude UK domestic packages from the regulations as the DBT has proposed and slammed the idea of exempting holidays below a certain price. In a response to the call for
evidence, the CTSI argues: “Those buying at the lower end of the market surely need equal if not more protection as they would be less likely to be able to lose money or fund their own way home if stranded abroad.” It notes the call for evidence asks
whether a price threshold could be based not on the package price but on the level of deposit and warns:
travelweekly.co.uk
“Operators could sell high-priced packages with a low deposit and avoid the rules.” The CTSI insists a minimum price threshold “should be strongly opposed”. Trading Standards also argues
domestic packages should “continue to be in scope of the regulations”. It notes Citizens Advice data on consumer complaints about holidays reveals more complaints about UK domestic holidays than holidays abroad. Citizens Advice recorded 2,636 complaints about UK holidays between January and August this year against 2,244 relating to holidays abroad. The CTSI quotes Citizens Advice
as saying: “Domestic packages should have the same protection as foreign package holidays.” Trading Standards also points out:
“The collapse of Shearings Holidays in May 2020 is the perfect example of why protection is necessary. At the time of failure, it had 64,000 forward bookings protected by a
‘Domestic packages should have same protection’
bond held by the Confederation of Passenger Transport. The average age of passengers was in the mid- 70s. They would not have found it easy to get home from Cornwall or northern Scotland. “We do not agree that if
regulation is removed, more business will come into the marketplace. To delete domestic tourism from the PTRs would be detrimental to consumers and compliant business.”
LTAs ‘broken and should be removed from regulations’
Linked Travel Arrangements (LTAs) should be removed from the Package Travel Regulations (PTRs) because they are so poorly understood, says Trading Standards. In a submission to the
Department for Business on reform of the PTRs, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) notes: “Customers are confused, businesses are confused, regulators have concerns. The definition of an LTA is too complex.” The CTSI reports that Citizens
Advice, from which it receives consumer complaints, did not receive a single complaint about LTA bookings between January 2021 and December 2022, despite more than 38,000 complaints about holidays and flights. However, it suggests this
could be due to confusion about what constitutes an LTA, saying: “Even travel organisers may not realise they have created an LTA or understand the obligations . . . to make the customer aware of what is and is not protected.” Trading Standards argues:
“There is widespread belief within the travel industry, trade associations and among consumers that the LTA system is broken. It isn’t working. CTSI is calling for LTAs to be removed.”
LTAs are ‘poorly understood’
12 OCTOBER 2023 63
PICTURE: Shutterstock/NDAB Creativity
PICTURE:
Shearings.com
PICTURE: Shutterstock/zixia
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