Rowland stressed travel would need “to find its own answer”, predicting no reform of the Atol scheme to address issues arising from the pandemic until at least the end of 2021.

Speaking during TTG’s Restart Travel: Restoring Trust seminar last week, Rowland suggested an insurance-backed element was needed to sit alongside Atol to cover force majeure scenarios, with consumers paying a nominal extra fee.

His comments were backed by MoneySavingExpert.com deputy editor Guy Anker, who said when it came to consumer travel cover, “the more scenarios protected, the better”.

Some 93% of delegates polled during the session said they believed the industry needed a better financial protection scheme, while 54% said it was up to the sector itself and not Westminster to take action.

Advantage Travel Partnership chief Julia Lo Bue-Said said travel was “best placed” to create such a scheme and called for more work to educate consumers to better understand pipeline funds and the refund process.

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