The Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust (Abtot) is the new home of Do SomethingDifferent.com and AttractionTickets.com.
We have resigned our memberships of Abta and Abtot so that we can continue to offer a bond on non-flight holiday packages.
Abta used to offer a balanced bonding scheme run by professionals.
Abta's behavior over membership fees during Covid, its seeming refusal to cut inflated costs, and its ineffectual lobbying triggered the decision.
The membership fees are for members.
Abta's membership fees were calculated before Covid on gross turnover.
Abta reduced 2020 membership fees when Covid hit.
Most members lost almost all of their gross turnover in 2020 so the 50% move was a good one.
Abta changed the rules for existing members and fixed membership fees based on the new year's gross turnover.
At the time when my company could least afford it, the cost was over $50,000.
The change in subscription rules was not explained to its members.
They didn't apologize or call their CEO.
Since the alternative bond and financial failure insurance market for travel companies had completely dried up during Covid, we had no choice but to pay the inflated subscription fees which were based on an unreasonable and artificially contrived arrangement.
The industry had to cut costs and face some difficult decisions.
Abta has no evidence that they undertook any cost-cutting measures during Covid.
There were 98 employees and the total salary bill was around $6 million.
The renumeration of the highest paid director of Abta for the year ending June 2021 was over three hundred thousand dollars.
Is it possible that the CEO of a small trade association can justify a salary that is almost double that of the UK prime minister?
A membership organisation needs to represent its members.
The inflated salary was funded by changing the subscription rules and inflating the membership fees for people who couldn't afford them.
Lobbying can be done in many different ways.
The outbound travel market isn't a priority for the UK government.
Despite being the hardest hit of all industries, the travel industry only got access to the more general loan and grant schemes.
Less than half of outbound travel is for the purpose of holidays and the sector is important for trade and jobs.
Most families use holidays as an essential part of their lives. Life is worth living.
The UK government was never going to be seen to support an industry that puts pollution in the sky, so any lobbyist working on behalf of the UK travel industry had a very difficult job.
Abta used a "fact" to justify the lack of cost-cutting and continued high salaries in the organisation.
There will be a lot of bankruptcies if the UK travel industry doesn't get sector specific support. The scenario did not happen.
Maybe Abta underestimated the resilience of people and companies in the travel industry or the willingness of its members to cut costs in order to survive.
If they had focused on the inevitable chaos at our ports and airports, their lobbying would have been more effective.
The government needs to protect travel industry jobs.
It would have been more likely to listen to arguments for saving jobs if Abta had said that it would save it from the damage done during the summer.
Abta's forecasts would have been correct if that approach hadn't worked out.
To lobby effectively, you need to be passionate and dedicated to the cause.
I don't think you will ever feel the necessary outrage on behalf of your members if you are sitting on a protected pay package.
Abta's leadership and lack of commitment undermined the travel industry's message to government.
Abta does something.
After the start of the Covid outbreak, Abta asked members what services they wanted and valued. The results were never shared.
Why did it take them over a year after Covid started surveying members, when the results could have triggered a cost-cutting programme for members?
There were some Abta activities listed on the questionnaire.
There are many activities that are vague. Pick out a few.
I can assure readers that showing the Abta logo through the booking funnel is no different than not showing it.
The hypothesis was extensively tested and reached statistical significance on three different variations of the test.
I would be happy to give the results to any members who are worried that leaving Abta would result in decreased conversion rates. It won't
Abta has noble aims, but surely there are better places for the government to go for advice on important issues like sustainable development?
The bond insurance market for travel has become less active. There is now a choice for members.
They can stay with Abta and pay Abta's huge subscription fees, which are subsidising large Abta secretariat salaries, and many activities members won't use.
Abtot has alternative bonding arrangements that focus on what we really need, which is compliance with the package travel regulations and financial protection for our customers.
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