On The Beach boss calls for ringfencing across travel industry to support refunds

The boss of holiday company On the Beach Group has given his support to ringfencing customer funds in the travel industry.

Chief executive Simon Cooper has praised the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) for investigating airlines who have failed to provide refunds to customers during the pandemic as a result of travel restrictions.

Simon Cooper, chief executive of On the Beach Group, commented: “On the Beach has long championed the rights of both its customers and wider holiday consumers.

“The board was pleased to see that The Competition and Markets Authority has opened cases to investigate whether certain airlines have broken consumer law, by failing to offer refunds for flights customers could not legally take, thereby leaving people unfairly out of pocket.

“It is pleasing to see increased regulatory scrutiny on the travel sector and I would like to see this taken one step further with other travel companies establishing Trust Accounts, similar to ours, so that all customer monies are ringfenced and can be immediately returned should their holiday be cancelled.

“All of this will help to ensure consumers are fairly treated while also restoring confidence at a time when it is needed most.”