AITO urges government action after Corfu hotel deaths

All responsibilities imposed by the EU Package Travel Regulations on tour operators should be extended to cover internet firms selling accommodation-only, AITO has urged in the wake of the Corfu hotel deaths tragedy. 

The call came as the bodies of the two British children killed by poisonous gas as they slept in an apartment at the Corcyra Beach Hotel in Gouvia five days ago are due to be flown home.

The deaths of the six and seven year old has reportedly been blamed on a faulty boiler and a hole beneath an air conditioning unit through which the gas seeped.

The children, their father and his partner were on holiday at the hotel with Thomas Cook.

The hotel faces charges after the children were found to have died through dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.

The Association of Independent Tour Operators was prompted top respond following criticisms of tour operators by Labour MP Nigel Griffiths, deputy leader of the Commons.

In the wake of the recent Court of Appeal ruling allowing companies to dynamically package holidays without ATOL protection, AITO warned: “This ruling will open the flood gates to any travel company that seeks to avoid its responsibilities, both in terms of financial protection and in terms of taking responsibility for standards at the hotels it uses – including safety standards.”

The organisation added: “AITO has campaigned vociferously on these matters over the past two years, to no avail – the Government, including Mr Griffiths, has ignored the issue.

“We’re very worried that, because of the way that bookings are now made, such problems could well be on the increase. We believe that all the responsibilities imposed by the Package Travel regulations on tour operators should be extended to cover internet organisations that sell accommodation-only.”

Griffiths had reportedly said: “The finger’s got to be very firmly pointed at the people who sent people from Britain to these death-traps.

“It’s a common pattern. I’ve met dozens of relatives of people who have been killed or severely poisoned.  Complaints (of poisoning) have been dismissed as food poisoning or too much alcohol.  We need to know why the management of the hotel didn’t check the flues of the boiler for soot. This should all be done by reputable travel companies’ reps on the ground.” 

The AITO statement said: “Firstly, while our members are in no way connected with the travel arrangements made for the family in the tragic accident on Corfu, we offer heartfelt condolences to all their relatives and friends. 

“Thomas Cook, the company involved, is a long-standing and reputable tour operator and we are confident that it will have made all the checks possible in this instance, as with all its holidays. 

“The fact is, however, that all tour operators need Government help to ensure that hoteliers follow EU law.

“We urge Mr Griffiths to make full use of his Ministerial position and to ensure his Government forces the EU to monitor rigorously all hoteliers and other accommodation providers within the EU.  Hoteliers should not be permitted to walk away from their responsibilities. 

“In the UK, we always follow slavishly every rule that comes out of Brussels, but our counterparts in other European countries very often do not comply with the same rules.   

“UK tour operators will, when contracting hotels, ask their accommodation providers to guarantee that all EU rules are obeyed in respect of health and safety (eg fire escapes, fire extinguishers, water heater flues and so on). Tour operators have to be able to rely on guarantees provided by the hotel management who sign the contracts with tour operators. 

“Government action on this front would thus be very helpful in terms of ensuring similar standards across all hotels in Europe for all consumers, both from the UK and elsewhere. Nigel Griffiths’ help in ensuring that the current law is both observed and adhered to would be most helpful.” 

Consumer group HolidayTravelWatch joined the call for Package Travel Regulation compliance and for a government review of the regulations.

Managing director Frank Brehany said: “We now challenge the Federation of Tour Operators and ABTA to publicily and unequivocally state that following the Court of Appeal decision and the likely increase in the sales of DIY holidays, that their members will ensure that such holidays will comply with the Package Travel Regulations, and that holidaymakers will enjoy their rights under those Regulations.

“Further, we challenge them to re-double their efforts to ensure that all ‘traditional’ package holidays and health and safety audits are sufficiently assessed to ensure their compliance with the Package Travel Regulations.”

Report by Phil Davies