| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 21/08/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 74 |
| Copyright: Other |
take a break
This week we nominate consumer affairs minister Kim Howells as the person who most needs to take a break for his extraordinary handling of the transparency issue.It’s been nearly three years since the Monopolies and Mergers Commission ruled that the multiples should make their ownership links clear.
The issue dragged on so long that the minister himself admitted to Travel Weekly in January that he had lost track of the issue. Not an ideal state of affairs with such a critical topic.
Now the industry has changed beyond recognition, making the MMC’s original report redundant, Howells has ruled that the multiples have to make their ownership links clear on brochures and stationery and put some stickers in their windows. That is with the exception of Thomas Cook, which doesn’t have to bother with the window stickers.
By now, I think we all wish Kim hadn’t bothered either.