THE ASSOCIATION of European Travel Agents has increased financial safeguards for its members in the light of the collapse of Nova Travel Group.
AETAdirector Paul Bagnall said he wanted to make sure that the problems at Nova, which hit financial trouble at the end of last year, were not repeated at his consortium.
New measures include expanding the group’s fidelity insurance protection, which protects against theft of funds by any member, to cover clients’ funds of up to £11,000 per person.
Bagnall has also added director errors and omissions insurance which protects against mismanagement of accounts by those in charge, and professional indemnity insurance which protects up to £1m against errors made by members.
He has also appointed two new trustees, both of whom are chartered accountants, who will look at the AETAbooks at least once a fortnight, and once a week during busy periods.
Bagnall said:”I have learned from the experience of Nova. Ihave tried to look at every situation which could possibly happen and take steps to protect the group accordingly.
“As far as trustees are concerned, they are not there simply to sign cheques but also to balance funds.”
He added that AETA membership has swelled by 65 to 133 since Nova collapsed in November last year (Travel Weekly November 11 1999).
He said: “When Nova went down, its members were left in limbo. It was not easy for us going to operators when our name had been linked with Nova, but we have now got most of the main operators on board.”
Bagnall added that he plans to open European offices this year, in Cyprus and Greece. AETAcurrently has an office in Spain.
“If anyone has problems abroad, we want to have agents out there working on our behalf.”
Meanwhile, AETA member Premier World Travel, which specialises in business travel, has merged with Excel Travel, based in Rugby. Excel has been renamed Premier Excel Travel.