Mistaken belief

In response to the survey findings, Travel Counsellors’ managing director Steve Byrne told TTG people were often “led” into mistakenly believing that certain logos mean automatic protection.

“Clearly [the poll] raises issues of trust and protection for holidaymakers when booking their trip,” he said.

“Many Brits are unaware of how – or even if – they are covered.

“Anyone involved in selling and arranging holidays has a responsibility to be transparent and to communicate exactly what is protected, and that includes Abta – it should be clear and unequivocal.

“People are looking for a 100% guarantee. Atol doesn’t cover everything, and I’m not sure myself what Abta covers.

“If not everything is covered then customers need the opportunity to get travel insurance for example, to protect what’s not covered,” Byrne added.

“While Atol and Abta offer financial protection, people are often led into thinking that if they see something such as the Abta logo they are automatically protected, which isn’t always the case.”

Travel Counsellors itself is not an Abta member but is Atol protected.

A spokesperson for Abta insisted: “In the last five years, Abta has paid more than £5 million to consumers and other travel companies to allow consumers to travel as planned and in total we protect £16.8 billion of our members’ turnover.

“Furthermore, Abta is here to help if something does go wrong, either supporting members who may have been caught up in a company’s failure or customers who may be out of pocket.”

Check before booking

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the CAA said the government body carried out a lot “of work to promote Atol and improve the understanding of customers, making sure they understand the importance of checking for protection before they book”.

“We have run a dedicated campaign on this each year for the past four years, coinciding with the peak booking period,” he added.

“This includes high-profile consumer-focused campaigns, which have featured extensive TV, radio, national newspaper, online and social media activity.”

However, the spokesperson said that it was “also the responsibility of travel businesses themselves to be open and transparent, and to really push the issue to customers, and the more they do that then all the better”.

He highlighted that travel firms’ publicity material, including their websites and brochures, must show their Atol number, the Atol logo and a statement depending on the products that are being made available.

Andy Cohen, head of Atol at the CAA, added: “The Atol certificate, which anyone booking an Atol-protected holiday should receive… confirms what is protected, which company is responsible for the booking and what to do if something goes wrong.

“This is the simplest way to make sure a trip is covered and we urge anyone considering booking a holiday to check with the company that they will get a certificate when they book, before they pay any money towards the trip.”

The CAA has offered limited comment on the Lowcosttravelgroup failure. Although the company operated out of European headquarters and was therefore not Atol protected, the CAA has still received numerous enquiries from consumers and agents regarding the situation.

In response, the CAA has reiterated on its website that Lowcosttravelgroup, which was based in Majorca and registered with the Balearic Islands authorities, was not part of the UK’s Atol scheme.

“We understand that the Balearic Islands authorities are responsible for the holiday protection arrangements for the company’s customers,” the CAA states on its website.

Elsewhere, the Travel Counsellors survey also revealed how important customers consider agents to be – particularly if something goes wrong on holiday. Of those surveyed, 40% said they felt it was “extremely important” to have a travel professional on hand to help, should a problem occur while on holiday.

Byrne said he believed every travel provider should offer a similar scheme to Travel Counsellors’ independent financial protection trust, which was established in 2004.

“It’s all about putting the customer first and as such financial protection has always been a top priority for us, which is why we established our independent financial trust,” said Byrne.

“We feel every travel provider should offer this level of protection to their customers.

“Ultimately, travellers need to know what is right for them, where is safe to travel and be reassured that someone who genuinely cares will be there for them every step of the way.”

How a booking is protected by Abta

On its website Abta explains that while the Atol scheme covers flight-based holidays, customers booking land or sea-based package holidays (such as coach, rail or cruise) from an Abta member will have their monies protected by the Abta scheme of financial protection.

This means that if a travel company fails and their clients’ holidays can no longer go ahead, the customers will be entitled to a refund if they are yet to travel, and hotel costs and transport home if they are abroad.

Abta insists that in addition to financial protection, its members are also “bound to comply with the Abta Code of Conduct, which ensures high service standards and fair terms of trading.”

It adds: “Booking with an Abta member also gives [customers] recourse should [they] have a problem or complaint with [their] travel company.”