FATTA reaffirms its support of Insolvency Fund

The Federated Association of Travel & Tourism Agents has reaffirmed its full support of the Insolvency Fund set up by the Ministry for Tourism and the Malta Tourism Authority.

The association has been actively involved in the discussions on the mechanics of this fund since early 2016, leading to the introduction of the Package Travel Insolvency Fund Regulations in October 2016, which conform with the legal requirements of the EU obliging package travel organisers and retailers to provide security for consumers against insolvency.

The association acknowledges that the capturing of certain data related to the sale of packages is intrinsically necessary for the fund administrators to be able to assess the exposure of the fund in respect of each individual organiser or retailer and to manage the associated risk. In this respect, the association is working with the fund’s management board to establish which information needs to be recorded whilst respecting data protection laws and agency commercial confidentiality.

FATTA agrees fully with the principle of each agent depositing a cash guarantee of €10,000into the fund. This is simply a guarantee, and will be released back to the agent upon relinquishment of the clause authorising the licensee to organise and/or retail travel packages in the respective licence.

The association does not subscribe to the implication that this works in favour of larger companies to the detriment of smaller ones. The differentiation of volumes lies in the contributions eventually paid by each company to the general operating fund which have been initially set at €2 per adult. This obviously means that agents will be contributing proportionately to the number of travel packages they sell.

Allaying implications of the potential threat of leakage of confidential data to competitors, FATTA president Iain Tonna said: “The association has full confidence in the integrity of the members appointed to the Insolvency Fund Management Board and its administration, especially since two board members are specifically nominated by the association’s council. We are also convinced that information will be handled with full confidentiality and believe that the setup of the fund is the most appropriate for our market”

While reconfirming its support of the Insolvency Fund, FATTA urges the management board to press forward and speed up the delivery of the online certification system as soon as possible as this is the only way to facilitate appropriate, efficient and effective monitoring.