The CTSI is urging the government to address "consumer confusion" about the protection they receive when booking travel owing to the different levels of protection available to UK consumers, which is dependent on the way in which they book their travel.
With its Wish You Were Clear policy report, the CTSI is calling for the laws – with the government currently in the early stages of a review of the 2018 Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangement Regulations – to be made "as simple as possible" to protect consumers from being misled or losing money.
Nearly nine in 10 (88%) respondents to a CTSI poll of 1,000 UK adults said they supported a review of the legislation protecting travel bookings, while almost three-quarters (73%) said they either only skim read their holiday T&Cs, or don’t read them at all. The poll also found around one in five respondents incorrectly believe LTAs provide more protection than a package booking.
Notably, feedback from both the public and "travel/holiday experts" suggested LTAs are not seen as being fit for purpose, with most consumers unsure what they are.
LTAs were created as part of an effort to protect bookings where individual travel or holiday elements are bought separately with the same retailer during a single visit to a shop or website, such as booking a hotel and then, without leaving the agency or website, booking a flight.
The CTSI’s aims include simplifying the information travel organisers provide their consumers about the type and level of protection that their booking carries, and ensuring consumers receive a clear warning on those occasions where a booking comes with no financial protection.
’Things need to change’
Bruce Treloar, CTSI lead officer for holiday and travel law, said 73% of respondents to the CTSI poll were unable to tell the difference between a package holiday and an LTA "even when they were given a definition". He added a separate stakeholder poll confirmed businesses don’t always realise when they are creating LTAs. "The vast majority think the definition of LTAs is problematic," said Treloar.
Treloar said the government’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill should seek to provide regulators greater enforcement powers to ensure consumers are provider better, simpler information about how their holidays are protected.
"There’s no doubt that package holidays and LTAs are a very complex issue but there needs to be greater protection and clearer information given to consumers when they book holidays," he said.
John Herriman, CTSI chief executive, said neither consumers nor consumers really understood LTAs. "It’s clear things need to change. We are calling on the government to either reform or scrap LTAs, so long as what is put in their place means that consumers are not detrimentally affected."
