The Globes are a beacon amid challenges

There is always a buzz in the Travel Weekly office in the days leading up to the Globe Travel Awards and this year was no different as I wrote this week’s column in the lead-up to the event.

The biggest night in the leisure industry calendar took place last night and the Great Room at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House hotel was packed to the rafters after the final remaining tickets sold out last week.

As always, it was an amazing showcase of the partnerships that underpin our industry, and we hope those of you who were in attendance enjoyed it as much as we did. 

You can find out who won the Special Awards and see a full rundown of all the winners. Massive congratulations to all those who triumphed and those who were recognised!

There will be more coverage from the night appearing online and in print over the coming weeks, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled.

Now that the celebrations are over, the minds of our travel agent and supplier guests will swiftly return to this crucial trading period and the opportunities and challenges in the market.

One of the most pressing challenges currently facing the trade is the need to swiftly implement plans to avoid falling foul of CMA guidance, which stipulates prices seen by consumers must include costs including fees and taxes in destination.

The authority outlined its views as recently as last November, so the speed with which it has followed up with threats of enforcement action is hugely concerning and appears to suggest a worrying lack of appreciation for how the industry works.

Transparency for consumers is clearly a positive thing, but the fluid nature of pricing in the sector and the logistical challenges of advertising a price higher than the one invoiced for means the new rules continue to vex even the industry’s most experienced legal minds.