On the Beach leaves Abta in row over Foreign Office advice

Online agent believes it can safely operate trips despite government warning against travel

Danger zone: the beach at San Sebastian in Spain (Simon Calder)

On the Beach, the leading online travel agent, has resigned from the industry’s main trade association, Abta.

The firm, which also owns Sunshine.co.uk, left because of a disagreement over the status and effect of Foreign Office warnings.

At present, the Foreign Office warns against non-essential travel to the vast majority of holiday destinations, including France, Portugal, Spain, Croatia, Malta and seven Greek islands.

Its focus for these locations is the rate of new coronavirus infections. The level of the warning is in the same category as parts of Afghanistan and Somalia.

Standard practice in the industry is for package holidays to be cancelled and refunds issued when the Foreign Office warns against travel to a destination.

This policy has been confirmed by Abta’s chief executive, Mark Tanzer, who said: “The upholding of the protections of package holidays is in the long-term interest of members, notwithstanding the harsh trading conditions, and it will give reassurance to customers at a time when confidence is essential.”

But the financial implications for online travel agents are significant – with airlines such as Ryanair and Wizz Air refusing to refund tickets if the flight still operates.

Many carriers are continuing to fly from the UK to destinations that the Foreign Office regards as “unacceptably high risk”.

Several online travel agents have questioned their legal obligation to refund passengers.

On the Beach tells passengers: “Unless we have communicated otherwise, we’re delighted to say that your holiday can still go ahead as planned and you can start looking forward to your beach break."

The Package Travel Regulations, which govern package holidays, are opaque about whether a Foreign Office warning automatically entitled customers to cancel and take a full refund.

The law says a traveller can get their money back “in the event of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occurring at the place of destination or its immediate vicinity and which significantly affect the performance of the package”.

The precise meaning has not yet been tested in court.