A consultation document from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills had been expected by the end of the year but this is now unlikely to happen, meaning the travel industry will have to wait until 2016 to find out the government’s view.
“There’s no prospect whatsoever, I think we are probably another six months away from it,” a source familiar with the situation told TTG. “The danger is we’re going to have a rushed consultation and there’s a lot of people who don’t know what it means as yet.
“There are huge changes. Nearly everything becomes a package, all flight-plus sales will become packages. They did a strange thing called ‘linked-travel arrangements’, which nobody really understands. It requires considerable time to look at it.”
Stephen D’Alfonso, Abta’s head of public affairs, said: “Perhaps the consultation hasn’t come as originally planned by the UK government. But significant preparatory work continues and we anticipate a consultation early next year.”
“Abta will continue to represent members’ views, not just during the consultation but before.” The new directive has spent the past few months being signed off by various parts of the European Union.
Earlier this week the European Parliament debated and then voted through the new rules. “Due to the changes in the travel market and the increasing trend towards online travel bookings there is an urgent need to modernise and adapt the old directive which dates back to 1990,” said the rapporteur, Birgit Collin-Langen.
“With this revised legislation, the rights of travellers in Europe are strengthened overall. New booking models are now included within its scope and travellers are informed comprehensively of their rights. We have also managed to take into account the economic interests of the industry – operators, travel agencies or hotels.”
Changes to the law could see travel agents taking on additional responsibility for the provision of a holiday if what they sell is deemed to be a package. A new type of holiday called a linked-travel arrangement has also been introduced, which covers customers who may book a flight and then click through a link to purchase another travel service.
The European Parliament’s vote ends the EU legislative procedure. Member states now have two years to incorporate the new rules into their national law and a further six months to make them applicable.
“This EU agreement means that Brits who take their hard-earned holidays abroad will soon be better protected if they buy their travel, accommodation or car hire as part of a package, closing off loopholes and confusion,” said business minister Baroness Neville-Rolfe.
