Triton urgently seeking talks with ABTA on lobbying role

Triton Travel is seeking to enter urgent talks with ABTA on recent subscription hikes in its attempt to take on a more-broadly defined lobbying role.

At the Triton group’s board meeting this past week, the decision was reiterated to become more actively involved in lobbying on behalf of agents, and plans were outlined to campaign on a number of important issues facing the travel trade, including ABTA subscriptions and the decision by Medhotels.com to ditch its principal status.

Helen Burgess, spokesperson for Triton and director of Worldchoice, said: “One of the areas we gain strength as Triton is negotiating and dealing with issues like the recent hike in ABTA subscriptions.

“Not only is the increase substantially more than many people realised, it is also fundamentally unfair since it hits the small agent hardest, with larger ABTA members having the smallest percentage increase.”

She also noted that the recent subscriptions hike was viewed by many members as being “the final straw,” and that they are concerned that ABTA’s merger with the Federation of Tour Operators shifts the balance of power to the larger members.

“Agents are now questioning the relevance of ABTA to their business more than ever and are putting increased pressure on Triton to find a possible alternative,” she added.

www.worldchoice.co.uk