ABTA is to launch a health and safety scheme for members which allows them to access a database of independently audited properties worldwide.
The scheme, to launch in early 2007, will allow travel agents and tour operators to buy information on hotels to ensure the product they sell meets “stringent” health and safety requirements.
The move follows the recent tragedy in Corfu, in which two children died of carbon monoxide poisoning due to a faulty boiler.
ABTA denied the launch was a reaction to the recent tragedy and said it had been “in the pipeline for some time” as more holidays are put together by travel agents themselves.
The scheme is aimed at helping agents which cannot afford to pay for the property checks themselves.
Chief executive Mark Tanzer would not reveal which company would be carrying out the checks but said ABTA had spoken to a number of suppliers so far.
ABTA has yet to announce the cost of the scheme for members. “It will be a banded structure and it will be more economical compared to doing it on your own as an agent,” added Tanzer.