In a video update to members, ABTA’s Chief Executive Mark Tanzer called the current crisis the “deepest” the UK travel industry has ever faced.
He said: “It’s not going to be like flicking a switch. Different destinations will open up at different rates, and there will be different arrangements in place. The recovery will come but we cannot say exactly when.
“But this is where travel professionals come into their own. Customers will have a lot of questions – we will make sure that members are provided with the most up-to-date information and are able to give advice and the best quality information to customers.
“The best way to build customer confidence coming out of the coronavirus crisis is by showing travel competence by the organisers – only by using travel agents and tour operators will you get the accurate information you need as a customer.”
He also emphasised the importance of refund credit notes (RCNs) saying it was “in everybody’s interests that the uptake is as high as possible”.
“We will continue to encourage the government to relax the 14-day obligation to pay cash refunds,” he added.
“If the government decides not to ease that window, then we will have to talk to them about other mechanisms for helping stop companies going into bankruptcy if there’s a flood of cash requests and chargebacks.”
Tanzer added that the crisis had been “compounded by the lockdown that’s still in place”.
