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Travelmole Guest Comment: Teletext Holidays MD Matt Cheevers
“On Monday night, millions of TV viewers watched Judith Chalmers, an icon of the traditional package holiday era, highlight how the arrival of the internet has changed the way the British book their holidays.
The battle of the traditional package versus dynamically packaged holidays and the internet versus the role of the travel agent was once again played out, and although the programme highlighted a number of key points, it left many issues unresolved, leading to added confusion for the consumer with regards to the issue of protection and bonding.
Following the programme, Teletext’s compliance team handled calls from consumers who expressed concerns, having been left confused and worried by the issues raised. Ultimately they were looking for reassurance that when they book a holiday on the internet, they will be protected.
The fact that the producers of Tonight with Trevor McDonald chose to highlight the issue of protection is good, however, the programme offered no substantial advice to travellers and even went as far as to deter them from booking online via a holiday internet site.
What the programme failed to do, was inform the viewer on how to ensure they are fully protected when booking, and offer tips and advice on what to look out for. The opportunity to educate millions of holidaymakers on this complex issue via a prime time viewing slot was wasted and probably detrimental to the industry.
We all know that this is a confusing subject for consumers and one that the industry continues to look to resolve, but in the interim, all those involved in selling packages, flights or accommodation should make it absolutely clear what protection is available for all the components of a holiday in order to avoid a summer of customer dissatisfaction, which ultimately gives our industry a bad reputation.”
Matt Cheevers, managing director Teletext Holidays
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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