New plans to give DIY travellers better financial protection

Travellers who put together their own holidays, booking flights and accommodation separately, could be given better financial protection under new laws being proposed by the European Commission.

As the law currently stands, only holidaymakers who buy package holidays from companies that have an ATOL licence are fully protected by the company's bond.

But the European Commission accepts that the regulations are outdated as the majority of holidaymakers prefer to book flights and accommodation independently and it wants protection to be extended to them.

It also believes that it is unfair that travel agents selling packages must have a licence but airlines, hotels and companies that sell flights and accommodation separately can operate outside current legislation.

The European Commission has embarked on a consultation with the travel industry and new laws are expected to be announced as early as next year.

We need tough protection that gives all consumers booking a package holiday the peace of mind they deserve, and we need a level playing field so businesses compete on equal term, said European Union consumer commissioner Meglena Kuneva.

The investigation comes in the wake of a number of tour operator failures which have exposed anomalies the current regulations.

When XL Leisure collapsed, customers who had bought package holidays from the firm were reimbursed but those who bought flights direct from XL airlines were not.

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