NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW 4


‘Hunter should not have been free to defraud’


Juliet Dennis juliet.dennis@travelweekly.co.uk


A victim of fraudster Rita Hunter has spoken of her anger that the homeworker was able to con holidaymakers while on a suspended sentence.


Jill Stanton was among the 13 victims who lost a total of £250,000 as Hunter tricked clients into booking holidays that were never paid for. Hunter, 63, of Sankey Road,


Liverpool, was jailed last week for four years and eight months after


admitting nine counts of fraud. Hunter received an 18-month suspended sentence in August 2016 for defrauding Advantage out of tens of thousands of pounds. She was jailed for six months in April after paying only £250 of the compensation. Stanton paid £3,590 to Hunter


for a family holiday in October 2017 in Limassol after the death of her husband’s mother. “This [sentence] allows us to


move on but I’m still angry she was allowed to commit these crimes [while] on a suspended sentence,” she said. “If justice had


been done, she should have been stopped straight away.” Stanton made an official complaint to police and contacted her local MP to get victims’ cases investigated faster. Hunter was finally charged last month. Many victims considered Hunter


a friend, but then found hotels weren’t paid for or that flights had not been booked. One victim lost his business as he could not meet his tax bill


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JAILED: Rita Hunter was sentenced to four years and eight months for nine counts of fraud. She could be released in half that time


after she conned him out of about £9,000.


Another lost £173,799 when


Hunter offered him the chance to invest in her business in 2016 after his wife died. Brendan Carville, defending,


said his client “doesn't know” what happened to the money, adding: “It’s all gone.” He said Hunter was a travel


agent for four decades before her “dramatic fall from grace”.


5 Homeworkers ‘set to eclipse shops’


Juliet Dennis Aito Overseas Conference, UAE


The number of Abta-registered homeworkers is tipped to eclipse bricks-and-mortar UK travel agencies in the next few years.


Abta’s John de Vial made the


prediction at the Aito Overseas Conference, held last weekend in Ras Al Khaimah, where Dutch and Australian trade representatives also reported growth in homeworkers and independent consultants in their home markets.


De Vial, Abta’s director of financial protection and financial services, said the number of UK high street agencies was now stable in a “mature” market following large-scale consolidation in 2007. “There are members opening


branches and optimising locations and lease opportunities, but that’s nothing new,” added De Vial. There are more than 3,500 Abta-


registered travel agency outlets in the UK and a similar number of Abta-registered homeworkers. He said: “I can see the number of homeworkers overtaking the


6travelweekly.co.uk29 November 2018


“I can see the number of homeworkers overtaking physical travel agencies’


number of physical travel agencies in the next few years. The value of their turnover is a different story, but it does show the diversification, with call centres, online and homeworkers, as well as high street locations.” Other types of agencies seeing growth are franchise companies,


both as divisions of UK retailers and new organisations such as US-based Travel Leaders, he said. About 17% of Abta high street branches are now franchisees. De Vial added: “We are not far


off the point of stable maturity on the high street. “We are seeing some high street


revivals, but it’s certainly not all about the high street.” Homeworking firm Travel Counsellors backed this view. It reported a 40% rise this year in


new agents compared with 2016.  Aito Conference, page 14


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