NEWS


Refunds force closure of payments systems


Harry Kemble defy UK edict A Holiday park in Porthmadog, Wales


announced it has stopped taking bookings for holidays arriving before June 4. A message posted on its site on Tuesday said: “Last


night, the government issued further guidance around essential travel. In light of the updated guidance we are advising all customers travelling on or before April 30 to transfer their holiday dates.” Sister brands Butlin’s, Haven and Warner Leisure


Hotels all suspended breaks until April 16. Official UK government advice states: “Essential


travel does not include visits to second homes, campsites, caravan parks or similar, whether for isolation purposes or holidays. People should remain in their primary residence. Not taking these steps puts additional pressure on communities and services that are already at risk.” Merilee Karr, chief executive of UnderTheDoormat


and chairwoman of the Short Term Accommodation Association, of which Airbnb and HomeAway are members, said: “At the STAA, we support following government guidance and encourage all companies in the sector to act responsibly in this difficult situation.”


bta, The Advantage Travel Partnership and The Global Travel Group have pledged to


reinstate their payments systems as soon as possible after they were suspended within hours of each other last week. Decisions to turn off Abta’s


Single Payment System (SPS) and Advantage’s Central Advantage Payment System (CAPS) were announced on Friday after the businesses grew concerned about the number of refunds being processed amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Both legacy platforms, which have each existed


for around 20 years, were struggling to cope with the volume of refunds being issued by suppliers to agents and an increasing number of direct debit mandates for agents. The systems are primarily used to facilitate


net payments between agents and suppliers once commission has been taken. John de Vial, Abta’s director of financial


protection and financial services, said: “The safe thing to do was to freeze and just allow the previous week’s cycle to complete and not allow a new


SATURDAY, MARCH 21 O


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Sunday, March 22 O


South African Airways suspends all flights


Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection postpones launch to April 2021


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Ryanair’s O’Leary takes a 50% pay cut


FCO arranges repatriation flight for Brits in Peru


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UK tourist boards urge visitors to stay away


Emirates announces suspension of flights


EasyJet says most services to be grounded by March 24


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Monday, March 23 O O


cycle. It was a function of these extraordinary circumstances. We want to reinstate it as soon as we can.”


He said agents and


operators would have to make individual bank transfers while SPS was suspended.


o t Paul Nunn, Advantage’s


operations director, said the decision had not been taken lightly and the consortium was working “tirelessly” to “modify” CAPS, which is used by around 45 suppliers and 280 agents.


o d


u “The way the system operates behind the scenes


posed risks to Advantage,” he said. “We sit in the middle and we are responsible for those payments flowing through correctly. “We are proactively looking at ways at bring the


platform back up so there is no risk for all parties.” Global suspended its commission payment


system to protect its nearly 300 agent members and “future-proof” its business. Managing director Andy Stark said the suspension “removed the immediate pressure [on agents] to repay commissions”. None of the three bodies could give a date for when the suspension of their system would be lifted.


G Adventures and Intrepid Travel extend tour suspensions


Sir Richard Branson vows to pump $250 million into Virgin Group; Etihad to suspend all services; Singapore Airlines slashes capacity by 96%


O TSSA union warns of ‘existential threat’ to high street agencies O FCO advises all Britons abroad to return “now”


Prime minister tells public to stay at home except for shopping for basic necessities and medicine, daily exercise and essential work


Tuesday, March 24 O


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Norwegian Air agrees first stage of lifeline government funding


EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou says fleet should be cut by a quarter O Tokyo Olympics is postponed


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A report finds coronavirus survived in cabins on Diamond Princess for up to 17 days after passengers disembarked


travelweekly.co.uk


26 MARCH 2020


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PICTURES: Shutterstock


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