The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) have announced changes to the way they will operate, no longer requiring a bond from member organisations.

It was this bond that allowed ABTA to refund or rearrange holidays for Holiday makers when a travel agent went bust.

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Abta paid out £4 million following 20 failures last year. In all of those cases the travel agents fraudulently took money from consumers without immediately booking the holiday with the relevant tour operator, airline or hotelier. When the agencies went bankrupt, the consumer was left without a holiday, but refunded in full by Abta, but the organisation says it can no longer afford to do this.

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