Online ‘click-through’ sales are to be regulated and customers given the same protection as those buying traditional packages as part of a revision of the 25-year-old EU Package Travel Directive, the European Parliament confirmed last night.
However, only those sales where the passenger’s name, payment details and email addresses are transferred between linked online suppliers within 24 hours will come under the scope of the new Directive.
Assisted Travel Arrangements (ATAs), where customers book several components as separate transactions online, including linked suppliers who don’t share all three pieces of passenger information listed above within 24 hours, will remain unregulated.
The European Parliament has agreed to a review of how the ATA exemption is working once the new Package Travel Directive has been implemented.
Commenting on the announcement, ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer said: "While significant technical and legal work still needs to be carried out before the draft is finalised we believe this agreement represents a significant shift in levelling the playing field for travel businesses, and ensuring many more customers will benefit from enhanced protection.
"We believe it meets many of the Commission’s original objectives, which we support. We have been active in Brussels and Westminster to ensure members’ views are represented in the new Directive and are pleased to note that many of our points have been listened to, in particular that travel companies can still act as agents and sell packages on someone else’s behalf; the exclusion of business travel; and ensuring that there is no general right of withdrawal – the so called ‘cooling off period’.
"We are also very pleased to see that click-throughs have been included in the Directive, although we believe that most click through arrangements will fall into the ATA definition rather than a package, and this will limit the amount of protection consumers will receive.
"However, we’re pleased to note that a review of this provision has been built in.
"We will now be reviewing the agreement in detail and will provide information to members in due course. We expect there to be a Government consultation on the UK implementation of the Directive in the autumn and we will consult members on this and work closely with BIS and the DfT."
