Travel Counsellors and Abta have clashed once again over financial protection after a survey for the agency found widespread public misunderstanding.
The survey of 2,000 people by OnePoll found over half associated the Abta logo with financial protection, while a third did not know.
Travel Counsellors chairman David Speakman has released the survey findings to the national press and demanded more action from the government to bring in clarity on the issue.
Speakman claimed Abta protects only 4% of holidays and demanded the Advertising Standards Authority insists on greater transparency about claims of the protection in offer.
Last August, Speakman reported Abta to the Office of Fair Trading after finding many member sites appeared to be contravening the association’s own advice on wording.
However, in a strongly-worded response, Abta accused Speakman of a commercially-motivated attack that added to the confusion.
Speakman said: “We commissioned the survey as we were aware of ongoing confusion among the public about how they were protected, particularly when it comes to Abta.”
He hit out at the recent Abta ‘Look for the Logo’ campaign and promotional YouTube video that he claimed sought to perpetuate the view that Abta still directly protects customer money.
“Showing the public its credentials will be seen by many as an attempt to mislead. Financial protection is now such a jigsaw puzzle that many travel firms are as confused as customers. People are booking holidays thinking their money is protected when it’s not.”
John de Vial, Abta head of financial protection, said Speakman had his facts wrong, saying the Look for the Logo campaign sought to simplify the issue and highlight the association’s other services.
De Vial said: “Trying to gain competitive advantage by providing inaccurate and ill-informed comments undermines the reputations of businesses trading legitimately, their trade associations and the Atol system and adds to the confusion about protection.”
Travel Counsellors has produced a chart showing how complex the financial protection regime is and a jargon-buster for customers which it will make available on its website.