Although widely anticipated, the government made a formal commitment to re-examine package travel in Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech (10 May), including measures to ensure more businesses comply with the law and improve protection for non-flight packages.

Elsewhere, the government wants to give the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) greater power to address breaches of consumer law, and introduce a US Esta-style border scheme.

The UK’s current package travel rules are enshrined in the Package Travel Regulations (PTRs), the UK’s interpretation of the EU Package Travel Directive (PTD).

However, post-Brexit, the UK no longer needs to implement the directive, meaning it is free to forge its own package travel legislation and regime.

Since the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020, the government has retained the vast majority of package travel legislation drafted off the back of the PTD.

At Abta’s Travel Law seminar on Monday (9 May), delegates heard a review by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) was ongoing, but was unlikely to bring forward substantial changes to the current rules.

It is, though, understood that Beis will look to make more significant changes once a range of "smaller improvements and simplifications" are made, Abta senior solicitor Paula Macfarlane said.

She added there was unlikely to be "wholesale changes", although she djid stress – with the EU reviewing the PTD – there could be greater divergence of package travel rules between the UK and EU.

Abta’s director of public affairs Luke Petherbridge added: "Beis can do what it likes with the UK PTRs. I think this will be relatively limited and targeted."

In its plans for a new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill, the government said it would: "Update and simplifying regulations for package travel so more businesses comply with the law, non-flight packages are better protected, and the quality of information and guidance is improved."

The bill also pledges to reform the UK’s competition rule, "putting more power in hands of consumers" and creating a "best in class competition regime". Its key tenets include:

• Enabling the CMA to take swift and decisive action on behalf of consumers and to boost competition, ensuring we have an economy where firms compete to give consumers the best deals;
• Giving the CMA the ability to decide for itself when consumer law has been broken, and to issue monetary penalties for those breaches; and
• Updating consumer law to prohibit commissioning fake reviews, offering to provide fake reviews, or hosting consumer reviews without taking reasonable steps to ensure reviews are genuine.

The Nationality and Borders Act 2022, meanwhile, will introduce what the government is describing as a new US-style Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme designed to "slam the door on criminals before they even get here".

The travel trade will be familiar with the Esta regime, it being a requirement for travel to the US – a small charge (around £9) to pre-verify people’s travel credentials. Estas – Electronic System for Travel Authorisation – are valid for two years.

The EU is currently working towards implementing its own Esta-style pre-approval scheme, called Etias.

The environment is another focus for the government, with its upcoming Transport Bill set to include a pledge to "keep the UK at the forefront of transport innovation, helping deliver the reforms we have promised to decarbonise transport, transform the way we travel, and better connect communities".