The European travel agents’ and tour operators’ association ECTAA “strongly opposes” a European Commission proposal to limit customer prepayments for holidays in its reform of the Package Travel Directive (PTD).
ECTAA president Frank Oostdam told an ECTAA Travel Payment Summit in Brussels: “Restricted payments would have a really big impact on companies.
“If this scenario becomes real, we’ll have to think about innovative ways of operating. It will have a very negative impact on companies.”
Oostdam said: “Every time the EC comes up with a new regulation it puts an extra burden on tour operators and travel agents.”
He argued that, instead, the EC “should be bringing other regulations to the same level as the PTD” and he insisted “ECTAA strongly opposes” some of the proposals for a revised directive.
Oostdam suggested the Covid-19 pandemic had led passengers to become “hyper aware of companies’ responsibility for refunds” and said: “There is increasing scrutiny of cancellations and delays in the event of unexpected events.”
He told the summit: “The travel industry is still recovering from the financial damage [during the pandemic].”
Yet at the same time, he said: “We stand at a crossroads of changing customer demand and technological possibilities.
“The industry has to boost the customer experience and state-of-the-art payment solutions are an important part of that. We need EU legislation that does not stifle new developments but helps and supports new developments.”