John Bevan has controversially claimed UK consumers would be better served by making agents rather than operators take full responsibility for holidays they sell.
The former lastminute.com boss and Abta director, who is now managing director of flash-sale site and Abta member Voyage Privé, claimed the French system was fairer and ensured agents were more careful about the suppliers they worked with.
“We have a situation in the UK where consumers don’t know what’s covered,” he said.
“They see Abta stickers in agents’ windows, but often that doesn’t mean a thing.
“If you are an agent selling a product I don’t understand why you shouldn’t be responsible for that product. As soon as you start influencing customers then you should take responsibility.”
Bevan criticised agents who avoid disclosing which operators they have booked with.
“If you’re just an agent, why don’t you pass on all clients’ details to the operator? It’s hypocritical not to do that but then say ‘it’s not my responsibility’ if something goes wrong.”
Some agents ripped out all operator branding from travel documents and replaced it with their own, he added.
“Why not be honest about it? If you’re doing a good job, the customer will come back to you,” he said.
However, Alan Bowen, legal adviser to the Association of Atol Companies, said the French system would not work in the UK.
“We have the largest outbound market in Europe, a different legal system and a tradition of providing protection by means of a bond,” he said.
“If you asked an agent, would they like to be responsible for something they have no control over, they’d say no. If there was a simple answer, we’d be using it.”