Will 2009 see more travel firm failures?


by Keith McGregor - Date: 2008-12-23 - Word Count: 292 Share This!

This is being put down to cash flow problems during the leanestmonths of the year. "If companies can survive the next three monthsthey should be fine, but this period is crucial," he said.

The financial crisis is likely to claim more victims so it isimportant to get some protection. Some insurers offer PassengerProtection Insurance, often termed Dynamic Packaging Protection, soldseparately or part of a travel insurancepolicy but always check the small print if this is offered becausethese are quite often restrictive in their cover. You can reduce therisk further by organising your travel through tour operators andagents covered by ATOL or who hold bonding through an approved body,such as ABTA or AITO. What is ATOL? This stands for Air TravelOrganiser's licensing and is a protection scheme for flights and airholidays, managed by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and protectsthe customer from losing money or being stranded abroad when a touroperator goes bust.

All licensed firms have to lodge bonds with the CAA so that, if theygo out of business, the CAA can give refunds to people who can'ttravel and arrange for people abroad to finish their holidays and flyhome. And ABTA? Members of the Association of British Travel Agents arerequired to provide financial protection for their customers whichmeans that you can book your holiday knowing that if an ABTA memberfails financially while you are on holiday, you can continue yourholiday as planned.

If your holiday has not started, then you will receive a full refundor be given help to make alternative arrangements for the trip toproceed. Likewise AITO, or Association of Independent Tour Operators togive it its full title, require their members to protect theircustomer's money in the event of an AITO member going intoliquidation.

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Related Tags: travel, more, will, failures, see, firm, 2009

Keith McGregor is a partner of Strawberrysoup, a web design agency with offices in Chichester and Bournemouth. Strawberrysoup specialise in creative web design, content managed websites, search engine optimisation, search engine marketing and graphic design. Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles

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