Any attempt to regulate the travel industry into providing financial protection is doomed to fail because someone will always find a way round the rules, the convention heard.
Monarch Holdings chairman Fabio Mantegazza said he doubted whether the CAA had it in their powers to sort out financial protection.
“The CAA does a great job, but I do not think they are doing it from a position of total control,” he said.
“How do you stop resourceful individuals from seeing there is a demand for something and getting round the regulations?
“It’s difficult for the regulators to come up with a regulation because there will always be somebody who comes up with a way around it.
“It’s very difficult to come up with a regulation that works, that can be policed and made to work. My job is not to regulate, my job is to operate. I can’t suggest to the CAA how to do it.
“The consumer is its own worst enemy because they feel they don’t want to pay to be protected. As long as someone wants a cheap deal someone else is there to provide it.”