Kane Pirie resigned from ABTA because it’s ‘anti agent’

Online travel agent boss Kane Pirie resigned from ABTA’s board because its stance on the Package Travel Directive is ‘anti agent’.

The chief executive officer of Travel Republic has warned there will be no travel agencies in 10 years if ABTA’s recommended reforms to the Package Travel Directive go ahead.

And he added that he felt the mandate ABTA has from its members to lobby that position is ‘questionable’.

He said: "The position is anti-agent. The consultation was fundamentally flawed as it did not give agents the real picture. If I say to you, ‘would you like £100?’, you might say ‘yes’ but if I add that you have to pay me back £200 tomorrow, you might say ‘no’.

"ABTA is committed to being the voice of the industry representing different business models and it can only do that in a credible fashion if it tackles issues that divide agents and operators in a transparent and democratic fashion.

"If PTD is reformed as ABTA is currently lobbying the travel agent model will be dead within a decade.

"There is no future in just being an agent for a tour operator. The tour operators increasingly distribute via the internet. You can see both trends in the falling number of agents and falling rates of commission."

Pirie confirmed that Travel Republic would continue to be a member of ABTA for ‘as long as it is commercially beneficial for us’.

Mark Tanzer, CEO ABTA responded by saying: "Kane is looking at this from the very specific perspective of an online travel agent. 

"When we consulted with our members on the proposed revisions to PTD in 2009/10, the vast majority of our agent members told us that dynamic packages should offer the same protections as other packages, but that the right of the organiser to act as an agent must be protected; they wanted businesses to be treated fairly and they wanted transparency for their customers."

"These are the key points that we are fighting for in Brussels (and in Westminster). Our principal members have said they want a fair system whereby anyone selling the same type of holiday, and that includes holidays sold via internet clickthroughs, should offer the same protections under the Directive. Consistency, fairness and the preservation of the agency model underpin ABTA’s position on PTD.

"In the last six months or so, as the Commission has focused its attention on the PTD, ABTA has stepped up our engagement activity with Members to seek the views of all of our Members.

"We are also providing Members with continuous updates through ABTA Today and our regional meeting programme and we will consult more broadly again with Members when we have a clearer view of what the Commission will propose in Spring 2013."

A lobbying group of online travel agents and high street agents is being put together by On Holiday Group’s Steve Endacott and Travel Republic’s Kane Pirie to represent travel agents in Europe called the Association of Travel Agents.

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