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Tell us what you think of the new PTD, ABTA tells trade
ABTA is to seek members’ feedback on the new Package Travel Directive proposals before returning to the European Commission in September to hammer out the final wording.
An online questionnaire will be sent to all members today and ABTA’s head of legal Simon Bunce has prepared a Powerpoint presentation to be used to brief members during a nationwide roadshow in August.
ABTA is largely pleased with the proposals published by the European Commission earlier this month, but Bunce said there were areas that still needed some work and the Association is keen to canvas members’ opinions. "We are not at the end of the story," he said.
"We need to talk to members to find out what areas are causing them the most concern so we know what are the most important issues and where to focus our efforts to make sure the Package Travel Directive delivers what we are after."
Areas that might cause concern, he said, include a requirement within the new Directive for travel agents to provide customers with more information before a booking is confirmed. "We need to know from members how onerous this is going to be," said Bunce. "It might be that they say, you know what, we do this already, but this is the sort of thing we need to discuss."
One of the biggest changes to the Package Travel Directive makes the travel provider responsible for the care of customers overseas during a natural disaster, such as the ash cloud of 2010, but the EU has proposed a cap of €100 per person per night for a maximum of three nights, bringing into line with the airlines’ liability.
"Our question for members is how difficult will this be for them to cope with, or it is something that they can easily insure against and actually could the certainty this change to the Directive brings be a good thing?" added Bunce.
Print versions of the online questionnaire are also being sent to members, who are asked to provide their feedback by the end of August.
ABTA plans to go back to the European Commission with its response in September.
Although the new Package Travel Directive won’t come into effect until 2016, Bunce said there was some urgency to getting feedback from the trade as it will be reviewed by the European Parliament from September 2013 to spring 2014.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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