Trading Standards has come out strongly against key proposals for reform of the Package Travel Regulations (PTRs) in a Department for Business and Trade (DBT) call for evidence published last month.
The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has urged the government not to exclude UK domestic packages from the regulations as the DBT has proposed and slammed the idea of exempting holidays below a certain price threshold.
It has also called for clarification of when a tourism service, such as golf, linked to an accommodation booking constitutes a package.
In a response to the call for evidence, the CTSI argues: “Those buying at the lower end of the market surely need equal if not more protection as they would be less likely to be able to lose money or fund their own way home if stranded abroad.”
It notes the call for evidence asks whether a price threshold could be based not on the package price but on the level of deposit and warns: “Operators could sell high-priced packages with a low deposit and avoid the rules.”
The CTSI insists a minimum price threshold “should be strongly opposed”.
Trading Standards also argues domestic packages should “continue to be in scope of the regulations”. It notes Citizens Advice data on consumer complaints about holidays reveals there were mor complaints about UK domestic holidays than holidays abroad both during the pandemic and since.
Citizens Advice recorded 6,927 complaints about UK holidays in the 12 months to May 2022 compared with 4,407 about holidays abroad, and 2,636 complaints about UK holidays between January and August this year against 2,244 relating to holidays abroad.
The CTSI quotes Citizens Advice as saying: “UK consumers need protection when buying UK holidays, as our statistics highlight.”
It argues: “There is no justification for excluding domestic packages from the legislation. Domestic packages should have the same protection as foreign package holidays.”
Trading Standards also points out: “The collapse of Shearings Holidays in May 2020 is the prefect example of why protection is necessary.
“At the time of failure, it had 64,000 forward bookings protected by a bond held by the Confederation of Passenger Transport. The average age of passengers was in the mid-70s. They would not have found it easy to get home from Cornwall or northern Scotland.”
It adds: “We do not agree that if regulation is removed, more business will come into the marketplace. To delete domestic tourism from the PTRs would be detrimental to consumers and compliant business.”
Call to amend definition of a package
The definition of a package as a flight or accommodation plus another tourism service which makes up a “significant proportion” or “essential element” of a booking should be clarified, says Trading Standards.
It has called for an emphasis on the ‘essential element’ of a booking and removal of the ‘significant proportion’ part of the definition of a package.
The CTSI also wants a clarification of when services linked to an accommodation booking might be deemed a package.
It argues that where a hotel has a golf course, spa, swimming pool or tennis courts, the facilities should be classed as “intrinsic” to the accommodation, while “anything ‘extrinsic’ when linked to the accommodation would be a package”.
The CTSI notes: “If access to these on-site facilities is part of the room rate, it should not count as a travel service. If access is available at an additional charge, it would constitute an additional service and if an essential element could be a package.”
Trading Standards has also called for a simplification of the PTRs’ information requirements, noting a recent consumer poll found 73% of respondents only skim or don’t read holiday booking conditions.
Linked Travel Arrangements should go
Linked Travel Arrangements (LTAs) should be removed from the Package Travel Regulations because they are so poorly understood, Trading Standards says.
In its submission to the Department for Business, the CTSI notes: “Customers are confused, businesses are confused, regulators have concerns. The definition of an LTA is too complex.”
The CTSI reports that Citizens Advice, from which it receives consumer complaints, did not receive a single complaint about LTA bookings between January 2021 and December 2022, despite more than 38,000 complaints about holidays and flights.
However, it suggests this could be due to confusion about what constitutes an LTA, saying: “Even travel organisers may not realise they have created an LTA or understand the obligations . . . to make the customer aware of what is and is not protected.”
Trading Standards argues: “There is widespread belief within the travel industry, trade associations and among consumers that the LTA system is broken. It isn’t working. CTSI is calling for LTAs to be removed.”