A body representing Latin America specialist operators has started a petition backing ABTA’s call for a temporary suspension of aspects of the Package Travel Regulations, which it says will help its members survive the Covid-19 crisis.
The Latin American Travel Association (LATA) is calling for the Government to:
- remove the 14-day time limit for refund payments
- allow refund credits as an acceptable alternative to cash refunds, with all protections carried forward
- remove the responsibility for travel companies to provide refunds if these costs are not covered by the suppliers (e.g. the hotel or airline)
If the petition attracts at least 10,000 signatures the Government will be forced to respond. So far it has more than 500 signatories.
LATA general manager Danny Callaghan said: "The travel industry is doing everything it can to help customers but these Package Travel Regulations were not intended for mass holiday cancelations caused by a global pandemic.
"The scale of this crisis on our industry is unimaginable and government needs to act now to help protect thousands of jobs. We would urge our travel industry colleagues to get behind this petition which forces the government to respond if enough signatures are reached."
