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Operators to ’cause confusion’ with school holiday discounts
Operators have been accused of sidelining agents and ‘springing’ an announcement on the public concerning the move to discount holidays taken during school holidays in an effort to help the Government cut term-time absences.
The criticism has come from CTTG chief operating officer Mike Greenacre, who says the move will confuse customers.
He said: “The announcement that some tour operators are to offer discounts to parents on certain breaks taken during school holidays seems to have caught many in the trade by surprise.”
He said agents lacked “easily accessible hard information about the scheme”, which could be passed onto consumers.
Mr Greenacre added that he welcomed the move by operators to cut the price of holidays taken out of term time but said the scheme had come with little warning, and would be too late for many parents who have already booked their summer holiday.
As reported by TravelMole, a number of operators including Thomas Cook, Kuoni, Virgin, Airtours and First Choice signed up to the scheme to offer discounts, free child places and free insurance on holidays booked before 28 March for trips taken during the 2005 summer school holidays.
Term-time holidays reportedly accounted for 15% of school absence last year.
Report by Ginny McGrath
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