The ABTA Board has met and agreed unanimously that ABTA Members should offer customers a full refund in such circumstances.
The decision was taken following recent representation made to ABTA concerning package holiday customers? refund entitlement in the event of Foreign Office advice against all but essential travel to a destination.
In accordance with the Articles of the Association, the Board agreed unanimously that ABTA Members should offer refunds to their package holiday customers where the Foreign Office advises against travel at the time the customer is due to travel.
Commenting on the Board?s decision, ABTA?s chief executive, Mark Tanzer, said: ?This clarification by the ABTA Board is welcome, and will reassure customers who book with ABTA members that the protections of the package holiday still apply, notwithstanding the challenges of the current COVID-19 situation. Members may well be able to offer affected customers alternative destinations or travel dates, but ABTA has maintained since the beginning of the crisis that it expects its members to recognise refund obligations where they arise, and to work with customers to settle these obligations at the earliest opportunity. While we fully recognise the pressures faced by many members at present, the ABTA Board?s position on this refund issue is in the best interest of customers, of the ABTA membership as a whole, and of the package travel industry.?
