I’ve had a couple of conversations over the past few months with tour operators around our size who are looking at the cost and constraints of bonding. At least one has now decided to “unpackage” their holidays and will no longer operate a bond or trust account.
I can see the thought process that’s going on here. Bonding is expensive, there are constraints on how you operate and manage finances and if you are not offering flight inclusive holidays it's quite easy to rejig things and present yourself as an accommodation only provider. Is this really the time though?
Five years ago I could count on one hand the number of potential guests who asked us whether we were bonded each season. Now I’d say it’s pretty much a daily occurrence, and fair enough. Travel firms have failed, more may follow and the money needed to pay for a decent holiday is hard won. With so much choice in the market it’s not worth taking an unnecessary risk.
When you book with a bonded tour operator you can, should that operator fail, expect to receive a refund of all payments made or, if abroad at the time, be repatriated where travel was booked through the operator. If you buy accommodation only or book with an unbonded operator you join the queue of creditors in the event of failure (and sadly you may be quite far down it).
We have chosen to protect our holidays with an ABTOT bond. You can find out more here >> . If you've got a lot of time on your hands and an unhealthy interest in the subject you can read the Package Travel Regulations in full here >> Chris
www.skifamille.co.uk
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