John Harding says sorry to ABTA

FORMER Travelscene boss John Harding has “unreservedly” apologised for the collapse of his company last year.

Writing exclusively in Travel Weekly Harding said he regretted the demise of the operator which affected customers, agents and ABTA, of which he was president at the time.

But despite the company’s collapse, which left £3.5 million owed to around 2,000 creditors, he admitted he was personally more hurt by the embarrassment caused to ABTA than the loss of cash by holidaymakers and the trade.

“The members of the board are aware of my feelings and they all have my abject apologies for what happened. I was the first and only president to have to resign while in office,” he said.

Stressing he was speaking from a personal point of view, Harding added: “I always gave 110% to ABTA and I still will. Nobody wants to cause embarrassment to an organisation they respect.”

While Harding, now sales and marketing director of Travel Trust Association’s accommodation-only website Trust Accommodation, still has great affection and respect for ABTA, he believes Martin Wellings is the man to continue in the job and will be re-elected.