2. Poor administration
3. Complaints about non-ABTA members
4. Poor service by travel agents/operators
5. Flight delays
6. Airline services
7. Building works
8. Cancellations
9. Misleading advertising
10. Force majeure (acts of terrorism/natural disasters)
ABTA has blamed the ITV1 show Package Holiday Uncovered for a huge rise in customer complaints last year.
The association received 17,196 complaints in 2005, compared to 14,600 in 2004.
An ABTA spokeswoman said: “It increased awareness and expectation levels of the effectiveness of complaining.”
Despite the huge increase in complaints last year, the actual number that went to arbitration was down – 947 in 2005, compared to 1,155 in 2004. In previous years, the figure has been static at around the 1,000 mark.
Clive Green Travel owner Clive Green, based in London, said: “Consumer programmes concentrate on travel because it is an easy hit. The travel industry is to a great degree focused on price, so people buy at the wrong level, get disappointed, and get into the culture of wanting their money back.”