Abta has no plans to issue guidance on balance-due dates for payments despite agents seeking more flexibility from suppliers as balances on summer bookings fall due.
There is increasing disquiet in the sector at companies pursuing balance payments from customers only for holidays to be cancelled.
But Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer rejected the idea the association should issue guidance, saying: “Balance‑due dates are driven by commercial contracts. There isn’t a rule that says ‘This is when you should pay your suppliers’ or ‘This is how long the hotel will hold the room’.
“Balance-due dates have to be decided company by company almost on a day‑by‑day basis.
“It would be very difficult for us to say ‘Everybody should pay 10 days before they go on holiday’. By that stage, the hotel could cancel the accommodation because they haven’t been paid. It’s down to individual companies.”
Advantage Travel Partnership leisure director Kelly Cookes has said a grace period of two weeks on balances could make “all the difference” in limiting damage to consumer confidence.
But speaking on a Travel Weekly webcast, Tanzer said: “If you believe the holiday is going to go ahead, you should collect the final balance because that will ensure the customer can have the holiday.
“If you believe the holiday isn’t going to go ahead, you should not collect the final balance.”
He conceded such decisions are “very difficult”, saying: “Government advice is against all but essential travel, but we’re seeing countries open up [and] a loosening of social distancing in some destinations.”
He added: “I don’t think there is a standard set of timeframes for balances. It could be [suppliers] move the final balance date closer to the date of departure. But if you want to secure the holiday, there has to be a final balance paid at some point and it’s up to companies to decide when that is rather than up to Abta to mandate it.
“Collecting too far out is unreasonable, but if you leave it too late, the customer won’t get the holiday.” Tanzer added: “People underestimate how important it is for travel companies to keep customers’ confidence.”
