The election battle to become ABTA chairman was tougher than many in the trade expected, with Advantage chief executive John McEwan only just beating sole rival and board member Daniele Broccoli to take the helm.
But three months into the role, McEwan says the pair get on famously – McEwan has already visited Broccoli’s Peterborough agency and met his dad – and is adamant the ABTA board is united.
“Daniele and I get on incredibly well and are working closely together. We have similar views on what is in the best interests of independent agents.”
One of McEwan’s first tasks on becoming chairman was to spend time in each of ABTA’s departments to, in his words, “see what they do”. Even he seemed surprised about the high number of members that use ABTA’s services.
“What is interesting is the utilisation of services by members – 95% use one or more of ABTA’s services every year,” he said.
Independent agents
Fears raised during the election that independent agents were unfairly treated by the association are largely unsubstantiated, said McEwan, who added that any concerns are now being addressed by increased communication through the Council of Regions.
He said: “When I got into the role there were a number of things we had to do. Internally, we had to make sure the membership was working as a team. There was some suggestion that the retail sector was not treated equally.
“Independent agents don’t need to be won over. The feedback from surveys shows all members, including independents, rate ABTA very highly. There is an element that does not like so much regulation, but it’s a vital function.”
In a bid to improve communication with independent agents, McEwan has taken on the chairmanship of the Council of Regions, and is prepared to visit all 11 regions and meet local members.
“It is not correct that the independent travel sector is not actively engaged in ABTA; they are involved in the running of ABTA. What is important is making sure there is two-way communication,” he said.
Lobbying
Much of ABTA’s recent lobbying efforts have focused on its opposition to Air Passenger Duty (APD). “Our view is that if you have a tax that is an emissions tax that directly correlates to the efficiency of airlines, it would be far more palatable.
“APD doesn’t offer airlines any incentive to become more efficient. The government just said it’s a tax; it gave up saying it was an environmental tax,” McEwan said.
McEwan is hopeful the association’s ability to lobby government will improve with two key appointments. Luke Pollard has been appointed head of public affairs, and the interview process is under way to appoint a high-profile non-executive director on the ABTA board. Both roles will report into chief executive Mark Tanzer.
“ABTA is well wired in in terms of lobbying, but with a head of public affairs and a heavyweight on the board we will know the corridors of power and bring more credibility to ABTA’s efforts,” he added.
“The head of public affairs will have a critical role to play with government departments and working with MPs. With an election coming up [next year], we need to work with both parties.”
ATOL reform
McEwan believes there is a general appetite for ATOL reform following the failure of the XL Leisure Group last year. “It brought home the fact that the present process for consumer protection is unsatisfactory. The key will be what these changes are,” he said.
ABTA’s proposal to extend ATOL protection to sales of all flights plus another holiday component – dubbed the “flight-plus” option – is likely to form the basis of the current reform of the ATOL scheme.
This would clear up widespread confusion among consumers and mean that all holidays, whether traditional or dynamic packages, would be protected, said McEwan. “If customers perceive they are buying a holiday, it should be protected irrespective of how it is put together,” he said.
Consultation
ABTA’s dialogue with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Department for Transport (DfT) will continue until November, when the government is due to issue a formal consultation document on changes under consideration. This follows the rise in ATOL Protection Contrib-ution on tour operators’ holidays to £2.50 from October 1.
“Over the next couple of months, the CAA and DfT will be talking to us and other industry groups. We are already in talks [on ATOL reform] with organisations that sit outside ABTA, such as the Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association and the Passenger Shipping Association.”
The flight-plus option for holidays could be passed without the need for primary legislation, according to McEwan. Introducing wider financial protection across scheduled airlines could entail the need for primary legislation and result in a lengthier process, he added.
“Ideally, you would like to get to the situation where every customer is protected, but in reality, it will take time for the government to be convinced that flight-only should be included.
“The logical starting point is to make sure holidays are protected,” he said.
“At least if flight-only is not included, you can explain to customers that they should take out scheduled airline failure insurance.”
Reform timetable
He is hopeful any initial reforms could be in place within nine to 12 months, and envisages airlines will become less opposed to consumer financial protection over time.
“The grey area is around dynamic packaging. How do we get to a more palatable situation in such a way that agents do not have to change their status from agents to operators? The difficulty is that consumers do not know if they are protected.”
The brand
Increasing recognition of what the ABTA brand represents to both consumers and members is critical to ensuring ABTA is viewed as the leading trade association, said McEwan. He believes ABTA – which will be 60 next year – has been “reasonably modest” in this respect.
“There is a lot of work on strategy, and ensuring internally that members are fully aware of what ABTA has to offer,” he said. “Externally, it’s about making customers aware that ABTA provides high standards.”
But he added: “Customers associate ABTA with protection and reliability. ABTA does provide some protection, but it isn’t universal, which is why we have to look at how we can orchestrate it so that everything you buy through ABTA is protected.”
Education
Training and education is also a key area for ABTA to develop, said McEwan, working with organisations such as the Institute of Travel and Tourism (ITT) and People First.
“One of the opportunities for ABTA is to be a catalyst in bringing it all together. ITT has finite resources and ABTA could augment what the ITT is doing. We do not want a series of individual initiatives [that are] not joined up; we need everything under one umbrella.
“There is the Diploma in Travel and Tourism, the Accredited Travel Professional scheme, local colleges, universities and internal training schemes. We have not looked at the top level to see what skills we need for this industry, and how we can make sure these skills are developed.
“The content of the diploma programme will be more employer-driven next year. The National Skills Academy is trying to do this at a broader level, but we have to move it forward.”