Specialist tour operators are rejoicing after hearing of two recommendations that will get rid of uneccesary red tape for the travel industry.
A report commissioned by Tourism Minister John Penrose has recommended the simplification of consumer financial protection methods laid out in the package travel regulations and a change that will allow the travel industry to sell insurance policies without FSA red tape.
The Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO) called the announcement “a real breath of fresh air”.
But it added: “One only wonders why on earth it’s taken so long to come up with such basic commonsense ripostes to the amount of red tape that everyone in the travel industry faces.”
AITO’s industry affairs director Noel Josephides said: “It’s not often that one can read something that hits the nail on the head in this way when it comes to red tape and over-regulation.
“This report is refreshingly easy to read and it recognises both how important tourism is to economic growth in the UK and the significant barriers placed on SMEs such as AITO members and their AITO Specialist Travel Agent counterparts by over-regulation.”
Referring to the change in the Package Travel Regulations, AITO chairman Derek Moore said the recommendation was “plain and simple, just how we like it”.
The Tourism Minister is recommending that lead responsibility for the protection of pre-payments and repatriation in the travel industry is placed within just one Whitehall department, rather than the current two.
The report states that this will reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, save the Government money and also reduce costs as a result of duplication of licences to the industry, particularly for SMEs.
On the sale of travel insurance, the report says “unecessary and inappropriate” regulations enforced in 2007 reduce choice for consumers, put strain on the Government, and mean higher costs for UK business.
As a result of the regulations, the UK became the only country within the EU that did not provide an exemption for the sale of travel insurance.
“The result has clearly been that an increasing number of holidaymakers have travelled uninsured, resulting in consumer detriment,” said the report.
AITO praised John Penrose for commissioning the report and said it fervently hopes the findings will be actioned speedily.
by Bev Fearis
