NEWS
When Abta held its first annual Travel Law Seminar in 1998, travel agents, tour operators and
customers were coming to terms with a rapidly changing travel marketplace. At the start of the 1990s, the Package Travel
Simon Bunce DIRECTOR OF LEGAL AFFAIRS, ABTA
Our Travel Law Seminar fosters a real sense of legal community
Regulations (PTRs) did not exist. Bookings were predominately made face-to-face or by phone. Low-cost airlines were a novelty and booking online was not yet a thing. By the end of the decade, the world had changed.
On one hand, the PTRs had formalised the way packages were sold and managed. On the other hand, direct booking on the internet with airlines and bed banks had changed customers’ perceptions of holiday travel, and travel companies had to respond. At the same time, many
challenges, including wars, 9/11, hurricanes, an ash cloud, Brexit, Covid-19 and more. The seminar has provided a forum for
discussing these issues and this year’s event is no exception. In a packed two-day agenda, leading travel law experts will join speakers from the CAA, the Competition and Markets Authority and the Department for Business and Trade to guide delegates through the complex legal and regulatory developments.
things might seem familiar. The Gulf war of 1991 led to the failure of International Leisure Group – a failure people were still referring back to until the even larger failure of Thomas Cook in 2019 – resulting in a review of financial protection. Many court cases during the 1990s, such as Wilson v Best Travel, laid down the core principles for how travel claims are dealt with today. And the industry was as dynamic as ever, with new types of holidays and new booking processes.
“We’ll cover the scope and liabilities of the plans for PTR and Atol reform, the latest case law and litigation, and the impact of Brexit RQbWUDYHO FRPSDQLHVŪ
Financial protection We’ll cover the scope, liabilities and responsibilities of the plans for PTR and Atol reform, the latest case law and litigation, the continuing impact of Brexit on travel companies and customers, increased passenger rights, and the future of financial protection. A highlight of this year’s
event is sure to be the popular case law update from Sarah Prager, who has been appointed King’s Counsel, as well as our session looking ahead to the next 25 years of travel claims to help delegates prepare for the issues that will affect their company liabilities.
I started chairing the seminar in 2005 and it’s a
Ever-changing landscape Over the past 25 years, the Travel Law Seminar has brought together industry specialists, government officials, regulators and legal professionals to help the industry understand the ever-changing legal landscape in which Abta members operate. There have been multiple reviews of and
changes to the Atol scheme in that time, as well as a major change to the PTRs and ongoing changes to wider consumer protection law. And all this against the backdrop of an industry operating in a global environment reliant on people and businesses across the world to deliver to customers, and in a world that throws up continual
12 27 APRIL 2023
real privilege to work with the great and the good of the travel law world, who are all so generous with their time and expertise. Over the years, they have created a real sense of community where everyone helps each other succeed in what is a most challenging and complex yet fundamentally wonderful industry that we are lucky to be a part of.
Abta’s 25th Travel Law Seminar will take place on
May 10-11 at Deloitte’s office in central London. Tickets are available at
abta.com/events
Read more by our guest columnists:
go.travelweekly.co.uk/comment
travelweekly.co.uk
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