ABTA, originally the Association of British Travel Agents, was founded in 1950 and is now known simply as ABTA. It is a membership body, not a government regulator. The Civil Aviation Authority runs ATOL, and Trading Standards and the Competition and Markets Authority enforce consumer law.

What membership involves

Members agree to follow ABTA’s Code of Conduct, which covers areas such as giving accurate information, booking conditions, showing the ABTA logo and ABTA number in advertising, written agency agreements and handling complaints within set times. ABTA also offers customers a dispute resolution service and an independent arbitration scheme. Membership is not a legal requirement for selling travel in the UK.

ABTA and financial protection

ABTA is one of the approved bodies for bonding package holidays that do not include flights, so “ABTA protection” usually means protection for non-flight packages. Packages that include flights are protected through ATOL instead. When a business applies to join, ABTA checks it against its financial criteria and tells it whether financial protection is a condition of membership. That depends on the type of sales it makes: a business selling only accommodation, for example, does not need it.

Common confusion

• ABTA membership is not ATOL protection. An ABTA member selling a flight package still needs ATOL cover: its own ATOL, membership of an Accredited Body or an agency agreement with the ATOL holder whose package it sells.

• The ABTA logo does not mean every booking is financially protected. Many single services, such as accommodation-only bookings, do not have to be protected by law. Flight-only sales are the main exception: unless the seller is exempt, for example as the airline’s agent issuing a ticket straight away, they need ATOL protection.

• ABTA is not the only route to protecting non-flight packages. Other approved bodies, insurance and trust accounts are alternatives.