Tanzer: Don’t rush radical changes to financial protection


Samantha Mayling The Travel Convention, Marrakech


Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer urged “great caution” before any “radical” changes are made to the financial protection system. In his opening speech at the


association’s Travel Convention in Marrakech, Tanzer said business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg had “made clear his intent to have a bonfire of EU-derived regulations”, with the Package Travel Regulations “assumed to be in his sights”. He said: “The pandemic shone


a harsh light on the whole system of money flows through the industry – how consumers are protected and who ultimately is sitting on the risk when things go wrong. “And it is right that we should


look at the system of financial protection to remove inefficiencies and duplication.” But he added: “We should


proceed with great caution before radically changing a protection system which has served the industry – and its customers – very well through many crises, natural and man-made.”


Mark Tanzer


Kwarteng to further stimulate international travel by freezing Air Passenger Duty and avoiding traditional inflation-linked increases. “Given the current economic


backdrop, [continuing inflation- linked increases] would add significantly to the costs for customers who are already feeling squeezed,” he said. “The prime minister spoke in


Tanzer said Abta had made “very


strong representations” to new prime minister Liz Truss and her team about the value of the outbound sector to the economy and jobs. He said: “For a government


committed to growth, growth, growth – [outbound travel] has potential to grow by 15% over the next five years, given the right regulatory and fiscal environment. “This would outperform the


general expectations for the UK economy and help lead the UK’s recovery in the years ahead.” He called on chancellor Kwasi


her [Conservative Party] conference set-piece about positioning Britain as open to the world, and about the importance of our being globally competitive. At this time, sanctioning substantial increases in APD would send the opposite signal – that Britain is closing for business.” Tanzer also called on government


to incentivise the development of low-carbon fuels as he addressed the sustainability challenges facing the industry. “The government’s growth


agenda demands this, and the alternative of simply taxing emissions


will thwart their ambition,” he said. i Carbon target: Business, back page


Midcounties to ‘empower managers’ Juliet Dennis


The Midcounties Co-operative’s travel group aims to empower its branch managers to work more like independent business owners as it targets further growth. Sara Dunham, chief officer for


travel and tourism, said the group could open new high street stores or “pop-up” branches where it identifies opportunities, with a review of its network “ongoing”. The travel group recently


restructured and brought its 71 Your Co-op Travel stores and 130 agency members in The Co-operative Travel Consortium together under head of retailing Alison Holmes. Dunham said the move to


streamline the group aimed to make 4 13 OCTOBER 2022


its Your Co-op Travel shops operate in a similar way to its consortium members. She said: “We’re trying to get


to the point where every branch manager has more autonomy and power to run their business.” The group has moved to “dual


branch managers” who run two stores each “in most places” across its chain. “It was a cost-saving [exercise] but


also about setting ourselves up for the future and providing managers with more autonomy and the chance to share best practice,” said Dunham. She said managers could


introduce ways of working from one store to another and choose point- of-sale offers for their branches. Dunham said the target was for Your Co-op Travel managers to be


We’re trying to get


to the point where every branch manager has more autonomy to run their business


more commercial and identify local opportunities, which the group will encourage by sharing insight on local markets across its retail division. “We see opportunities for our


branches to work more like our consortium agents. It’s about giving them the training and tools to do the job,” she said. “Our overall objective is to grow the travel business, both our retail and consortium agencies. There is more chance of doing that


if everybody is focused on the same things and working in the same way.” Holmes said consortium agents


“worked to their local markets”. “We have to get our branch


managers doing that and taking more responsibility for their own businesses,” she added. “We would give guidance across


retail stores to identify opportunities. “We can also be smarter on our


marketing. If we see something doing well, we can now share that offer more quickly [across retail].” The group has also outlined


plans to increase the number of its employed homeworkers from four to eight, who can take ‘overspill’ calls


from the group’s shops. i The Co-operative Travel Consortium Conference, page 8


travelweekly.co.uk


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64