{"id":83396,"date":"2017-08-13T23:15:17","date_gmt":"2017-08-13T23:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=1c2b590258a3d9382fba65e959c6eb64"},"modified":"2017-08-13T23:15:17","modified_gmt":"2017-08-13T23:15:17","slug":"press-release-government-launches-proposals-to-better-protect-holidaymakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=83396","title":{"rendered":"Press release: Government launches proposals to better protect holidaymakers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>Enhanced regulations will better protect an extra 10 million UK package holidays booked online, under proposals outlined today (14 August 2017) by Consumer Minister Margot James.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/consultations\/updating-consumer-protection-in-the-package-travel-sector\">Consultation on the Package Travel Regulations<\/a> sets out the government\u2019s proposals for the introduction of new consumer rights around package holidays.<\/p>\n<p>Proposals outlined today include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>an extension to current protections to cover the millions of UK holidaymakers who buy package holidays online<\/li>\n<li>a requirement for better information to be provided to travellers at the point of booking, making it clear what their rights to refund are<\/li>\n<li>ensuring the business that puts the package together is responsible for the entire holiday \u2013 even if some elements will be fulfilled by third parties<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>According to the <a rel=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/abta.com\/\">Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA)<\/a>, changes to how we book travel \u2013 such as using online booking sites to build personalised holidays \u2013 has created a gap in consumer rights, with 50% of holiday arrangements not currently financially protected if a company ceases trading. Changes will provide clearer and stronger protections for holidaymakers, ensuring people who book holidays online enjoy the same rights as those who book with a traditional travel agent.<\/p>\n<p>Consumer Minister Margot James said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>While consumer laws protect millions of holidaymakers from the fallout if a travel company goes into administration, the way we book holidays has changed significantly in recent years and it is important that regulations are updated to reflect this.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">On average UK households put aside \u00a3100 every month for their holidays. The proposals outlined in this consultation will ensure that an extra 22% of holidays can be booked online with holidaymakers safe in the knowledge that they will get their hard-earned money back if something does go wrong.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Government is encouraging travel agents, booking sites, trade associations and consumer groups to respond to the consultation, which runs for 6 weeks. The European Package Travel Directive comes into force in July 2018.<\/p>\n<div class=\"call-to-action\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/consultations\/updating-consumer-protection-in-the-package-travel-sector\">Respond to the consultation<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Consumer Minister Margot James launches proposals to better protect travellers booking package holidays online.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83396"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}