NEWS THE TRAVEL CONVENTION 2017


The Travel Convention 2017: Monarch, Atol and technology were themes at Abta’s annual event. Ian Taylor, Amie Keeley and Phil Davies report from the Azores › Six-page report


Josephides: ‘I hope the Monarch failure will be [a] catalyst’


Josephides: Government failed to liaise on Monarch


Abta chairman Noel Josephides accused the government of treating the industry as if it “knows nothing” about how the sector works following the collapse of Monarch.


Addressing delegates at the closing session of Abta’s Travel Convention, he said the association was not consulted by ministers before it decided to go ahead and repatriate 84,000 customers. “It’s imperative government and industry work together. We are not the enemy, we are the ally,” he said. “But the government sometimes


treats us as if we know nothing about the very industry in which we work.”


Josephides described Monarch’s


failure as “a sad day for all of us”, suggesting the airline had been “overwhelmed by the price- cutting frenzy generated by gross overcapacity in the market”. He hit out at the government,


saying: “Abta was never asked whether it felt the industry could


“The failure of the government to communicate has resulted in a backlash [from the industry]”


handle such a failure without outside intervention, or whether this could be done at a more reasonable cost than £250 per one-way seat. “The failure of the government


to communicate and listen has resulted in a backlash [from the industry] which could so easily have been prevented.” He told the convention: “On so


many issues we could benefit from transparency in dialogue and trust. “I hope the Monarch failure


will be the catalyst to encourage a more trusting relationship.” His comments follow those of


Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer who hit out at the CAA and the


14 travelweekly.co.uk 19 October 2017


government in his address to the Travel Convention, describing the lack of consultation as “completely unsatisfactory” and demanded a review of the system of financial protection. Josephides said: “2018 bookings


are looking good in spite of the best efforts to derail them by regulators, terrorists and natural disasters.” Referring to the convention’s host destination, the Azores, Josephides added: “I first came to the Azores in 1989. I’m thrilled this year’s convention was held here. “It has not been easy for a small


archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic to attract the attention of the industry or to host a convention of this size. “But the island will face a greater challenge – how to cope with the growth of tourism that threatens the very thing visitors come to see. I am confident this most resilient


of people will succeed.” › More news from The Travel Convention, pages 15-19


Richard Downs


Iglu chief Downs: We need a levy on all UK flights


Iglu.com chief executive Richard Downs echoed Abta’s demand for a levy on all UK flights to fund passengers’ repatriation. Downs, an Abta board member, called for the repatriation of customers of failed airlines to be removed from the Atol scheme. He told delegates: “We


need to separate repatriation risk from package travel risk. All the stakeholders as an industry should create a fighting fund.” He pointed out: “The


government brought in a banking levy to address a future banking crisis. “There are 250 million flight


[passengers] in the UK [in a year]. With a 50p levy for repatriation [on all flights] we could very quickly build a sufficient fund and get ahead of the problem. “Let’s take out repatriation


from package protection. “Bringing people back [to Britain] is the biggest risk.”


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