Founder Oliver Brendon on Tuesday (22 November) confirmed AT had left Abta to join Abtot, the Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust, citing Abta’s membership fees.

Brendon said Abta’s decision to base its 2021 membership fees on firms’ 2019 revenue rather than their 2020 revenue had triggered AT’s decision to leave the association.

Abta halved its membership fees in 2020, but declined to do so again in 2021 despite calls from agent campaign group Target – Travel Agents Reform Group Engaged Together. Target polled its members, around 20% of whom said they would struggle to afford Abta’s fees.

In a statement provided to TTG, Brendon accused Abta of changing its fee structure to suit the association’s cost base without taking account of the impact of the pandemic on members. 

He said the decision to quit Abta and transition AT’s bonding to Abtot resulted in the business incurring unnecessary time and cost implications, adding in AT’s own testing, the impact of having the Abta brand on its site was negligible.

"Like most travel companies at the moment, we have enough to do rebuilding the business after Covid," said Brendon. "Moving regulatory bodies, undoing one set of bonds and replacing them with another, takes time and effort, which we could do without."

Brendon said Abta should apologise for its 2020 and 2021 membership fee policy, and urged the association to fully or partially refund members for the "unjustified" costs.

He added any Abta members wishing to legally challenge Abta’s 2021 membership policy should email him via oliver@attractiontickets.com.

An Abta spokesperson said: “It is always regrettable when a member chooses to resign their membership of Abta, and we will always keep the door open to companies that leave the association.

"Companies who resign from membership no longer benefit from the many services our members tell Abta they value, as well as the widespread recognition and respect that the travelling public has for the Abta logo, with our research showing 73% of people are more likely to book with an Abta member than a non-member.”

Brendon, though, refuted Abta’s claim, citing A-B testing of its booking flow with and without the Abta logo resulting in a "neutral" effect on conversion rates.

Addressing Target’s calls last year for it to ease its membership fees again, an Abta spokesperson said that while the association understood the financial and emotion strain the pandemic had placed on members, its fees went towards providing vital services for members such as free legal advice and business support, and operational guidance, as well as lobbying.

They added the association had also allowed businesses to pay quarterly rather than in full at the start of the financial year.