Home-based companies, TravelManagers and Travel Counsellors seem to have temporarily put aside their (light) rivalry to fight for more consumer protection.
Last week, Travel Counsellors entered the ongoing consumer protection debate, saying there’s a need for further consumer protection and agencies need to play a bigger role in delivering it.
The statement came as negative consumer awareness surrounding the ongoing travel agency collapses continues to grow.
Now, TravelManagers’ Chairman, Barry Mayo, has come out and praised his home-based competition, saying Travel Counsellors’ comment opens an opportunity to “for the travel industry to constructively debate the many resulting issues of the government’s deregulation of travel agents and other travel intermediaries”.
“We see this as a positive result for consumers.”
Barry Mayo, TravelManagers Chairman
“We congratulate Travel Counsellors speaking out by identifying the need for the industry to ensure consumers are ‘fully’ informed about consumer protection and for challenging other travel agents to match the ‘full’ protection under its “Your Money’s Safe” claim.”
Mayo has long been an advocate of encouraging robust discussion and debate as a way for state governments to recognise the shortcomings of their decision to deregulate travel agencies.
While he agrees with Travel Counsellors calling for more protection, Mayo said he has a slightly different view on where it should come from.
“TravelManagers has never advocated the government provide funds to cover consumer protection.”
Barry Mayo, TravelManagers Chairman
“Travel Counsellors takes the stance that the industry should not expect government to cover consumers against industry failures.
“However, this has never been the case, the government provided legislation in 1986 for an industry funded organisation to operate a consumer protection scheme on behalf of all travel intermediaries and not only protect consumers against losses but the integrity of the all travel agents and other Australian-based travel intermediaries as a whole.”
Mayo says he has and continues to be critical of state governments abandoning licensing and the TCF without ensuring an appropriate and affordable replacement for consumer protection was in place.
He was also quick to point out that the TCF was not perfect, but emphasised that what it offered consumers was “protection against travel intermediary insolvency that was consistent and universal”.
Mayo strongly believes that where consumer protection is concerned, there needs to be total transparency.
