ABTA news
UPDATE
SICKNESS CLAIMS TARGETED
ABTA continues to work with its Members in the fight against false holiday illness claims. Claims management companies are still targeting holidaymakers using aggressive marketing tactics in resort and also when travellers have returned home. Since 2013, there’s been a dramatic
rise in the number of holiday illness claims, while sickness levels reported in resort have remained stable. By comparing claims data for January to September 2016 with the whole of 2013, ABTA has revealed an increase of 520%. ABTA is currently working with Members to obtain the most up-to- date figure to present to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), which will give a properly informed overview of the extent of the problem. The rise in claims has coincided with
a legal loophole which means that claims for overseas holiday illness fall outside the existing legal fixed costs regime for personal injuries. This is under review by the MoJ, and ABTA has called for it to be amended to bring overseas holiday claims within its scope. It’s currently working with MoJ officials on making light-touch amendments to the relevant Pre- Action Protocol. ABTA also continues to work with the media to raise public awareness of the issue, and has achieved positive, supportive coverage in the national media.
NEWS
Card payment changes
ABTA is warning Members about important changes to the law regarding charges for card payments. Since April 2013, it has been illegal for companies to pass on card charges to customers which are higher than those charged by their banks. This was due to the first stage of an EU directive; the Payment Services Directive, which will come into effect on 13 January 2018. This will stop businesses charging customers for the vast majority of credit and debit card payments. The government is working on
implementing this into UK law, and will definitely impose the ban on charges for MasterCard and Visa payments. It’s currently consulting on a proposal to extend the ban to charge cards such as American Express and Diners Club. ABTA strongly opposes an extension to these card types.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Animal advisor TripAdvisor has developed an animal welfare portal
following its adoption of ABTA’s animal welfare guidelines. The portal has contributions from animal welfare groups together with blogs written by ABTA in collaboration with the Born Free Foundation — ABTA’s partner in developing the guidance. Members who want to find out more about the guidelines should contact ABTA at
sustainabletourism@abta.co.uk; also see our special report on animal welfare and tourism from p25 in this issue.
tripadvisor.com/blog/ animal-welfare-education-portal/
10 ABTA Magazine | June 2017
ABTA has worked closely with its
European trade association, ECTAA, to highlight the negative impact of a ban on card charges on the travel industry. Although ABTA was not able to overturn the ban, it did manage to maintain the right for businesses to refuse card payments, or to encourage customers to use other methods of payment available. Mark Tanzer, ABTA chief executive, said,
“These new rules will have a significant impact. You may choose to deal with these extra costs by increasing headline prices or, if you’re an agent, by charging a booking fee. If you choose to charge a booking fee, it must be on all bookings, not just those where payment is taken by card. I’d encourage Members to look on the ABTA Partners section of
abta.com to find merchant services providers that offer preferential rates to ABTA Members.”
Brexit priorities ABTA has set out priorities for Brexit negotiations in
a new report, Making a Success of Brexit for Travel and Tourism. The report outlines the priorities and opportunities for the travel industry and UK travellers that ABTA is asking the government to focus on as formal negotiations begin, including the ability to travel freely within Europe and beyond, to keep visa-free travel between the UK and the EU, protecting consumer rights, giving UK businesses operational stability and seizing opportunities for growth. ABTA is also calling for effective transitional agreements to be in place. The full report can be downloaded at
abta.com/brexit
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