BCC boosts holiday bonding schemes
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THE BUS and Coach Council has improved the protection offered by its own members' bonded coach holiday scheme, in the face of the Association of British Travel Agents' attempts to restrict its members to sell only holidays operated by its members.
The new BCC scheme offers customers continuation of a planned holiday or money back in MB if an operator goes out of business.
It also offers completion of a holiday in the event of the operator failing during the holiday and there is a strict code of conduct, a concilia tion and low-cost arbitration scheme, and full protection Of customers legal rights.
BCC expects 70 operators to participate in its new fivestar scheme for 1986.
This year its bonded holiday sales totalled 1.:80 million and in 1986 are expected to top 000 million.
ABTA prohibits the sale of non-members' holiday products through its members' outlets.
In the past, the BCC and the Passenger Shipping Association have had agreements with ABTA to allow sale of their members' products
through ABTA agents, but ABTA !us taken steps to end these a greonents by 1987.
13CC has complained against the ABTA move to the EEC competition section as it feels it is a restrictive trade practice and against the terms over the Treaty of Rome.
It also points out that both its and the PSA members own and operate their holidays with tangible assets re
quiring CO ill 111 t all ii substantial investment. whereas A13TA members are often merely agents with fewer tangible assets.