The Latin American Travel Association has initiated a government petition to temporarily suspend aspects of the Package Travel Regulations (PTR) to help companies in the travel industry, such as agents, survive the COVID-19 crisis.
The petition calls for three temporary PTR amendments which are: to remove the 14-day time limit for refund payments; to allow refund credits as an acceptable alternative to cash refunds, with all protections carried forward; and to remove the responsibility for travel companies to provide refunds if these costs are not covered by suppliers, such as hotels and airlines.
This petition which obliges the government to respond if signatures reach more than 10,000 supports ABTA?s Save Future Travel campaign which urges the travel industry to call on the government to take immediate action to avoid mass insolvencies across the sector, including a simple way for individuals to contact their MPs.
Danny Callaghan, LATA?s general manager commented: ?The travel industry is doing everything it can to help customers but these Package Travel Regulations were not intended for mass holiday cancelations caused by a global pandemic. The scale of this crisis on our industry is unimaginable and government needs to act now to help protect thousands of jobs. We would urge our travel industry colleagues to get behind this petition which forces the government to respond if enough signatures are reached.?
