ABTA has welcomed new Government guidance on the definition of a package holiday, but what will it mean for agents?
The main points to come out of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform’s advice are:
- “Brochures, websites and sales literature (including invoices) should state clearly whether consumers are buying a package holiday…what protections consumers lack compared to a protected holiday… and whether the option is open to buy the same holiday as a package”
- If it is not a package, agents should make clear the consumer has no financial protection and the retailer no liability.
- Details of cover and liability on websites must be upfront and not buried in terms and conditions.
- Websites using shopping baskets would need to state “whether putting more than one travel service in the basket is an offer of a combination”.
- Telesales agents will probably be expected to conform to a script that explains a sale is not a package.
- “If a package is not being sold, the term package should not be used at all.”