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Wowcher makes travel deals bookable on site


Harry Kemble harry.kemble@travelweekly.co.uk


Deals publisher Wowcher hopes to attract more trade partners after making its site bookable for the first time.


Customers can now make a


travel booking, including flights, in a few minutes on the site. Previously, they were required to


contact the merchant, often a tour operator or travel agent, to redeem flights and confirm bookings – which could take up to 48 hours. Wowcher, which has about


18 million subscribers, said the new features would allow travel partners, which do not have the infrastructure to take high call volumes from its customers, to add deals to the site. It hopes this will attract more firms to promote deals via its platform. Jetline Holidays, Viva Holidays,


Moresand Group and Worldwide Travel & Tours are among Wowcher’s key travel partners. It is set to confirm Broadway


Travel and another travel partner by the end of the month. Deals on the site include a three-night city break to New


York with return flights for £499 – reduced from £2,111. Paul Constable, general manager


for travel at Wowcher, claimed the new technology set it apart from its market rivals, which include deals publishers and price comparison sites such as Travelzoo and Icelolly.com. He added. “This is the first of


many innovations we’re launching in 2019 to make the experience even better for customers.”


The technology was developed


over a six-month period before its soft-launch last month. Steven Roberts, managing


director of Jetline Travel, parent of Jetline Holidays, said the booking technology “makes the whole process easier” for customers. “Without the technology, the deal could be a week old by the time the customer calls us,” he said. “Now it is all about the quality of deal.”


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5 Bed banks in line for big tax refunds


Lee Hayhurst lee.hayhurst@travelweekly.co.uk


Bed banks have secured what could be a decisive final ruling in a long-running battle over whether they were liable to pay VAT on their profits.


A tax tribunal has rejected HM


Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) bid to refer appeals by Alpharooms, Opodo, HotelConnect, Hotels4U and Lowcost Holidays, which went bust in 2016, to the European Court of Justice.


The decision could see tens of millions of pounds being paid back to the five accommodation-only suppliers. HMRC’s only recourse is to appeal within two months. The firms received backdated


VAT bills after former lastminute. com-owned Medhotels was issued with a £7 million bill in 2007. It is not known how much each


firm was left out of pocket, but Alpharooms, now a trading name of Truly Travel, is understood to be expecting £6 million and Lowcost’s administrators £3 million. In a First-tier Tribunal last


6 travelweekly.co.uk 25 April 2019 But HMRC argued a difference in


“I think the court has reached the right decision”


November, HMRC claimed the firms were operating as “intermediaries” under European law between 2006 and 2010 – so should have been paying VAT. Earlier tribunals established the bed banks were “agents” under UK law, and therefore not eligible for VAT under the Tour Operators’ Margin Scheme (Toms).


wording between EU and UK law meant they were ‘principals’ under EU law, and liable for VAT. Alpharooms solicitor Stuart


Walsh, head of tax disputes at Pincent Mason, who also represented Medhotels over VAT payments, said: “I think the court has reached the right decision.” He said although the VAT


dispute was not the sole cause of decline among UK bed banks, of which there have been a succession of recent failures and closures, it “certainly did not help”.


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