The president of the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) has said the current system of regulation of the trade is strangling small and medium-sized businesses.
Speaking at the ITAA annual conference in Athlone, Jim Vaughan also again criticised the Budget's introduction of the travel tax. He called for a portion of the levy to be used to introduce a system of universal protection for all travelling consumers
Mr Vaughan said that, for the most part, ITAA members were SMEs, providing employment across Ireland. He said the body had made 'clear proposals' to the Commission on Aviation Regulation (CAR) on reforms of the travel industry..
'The introduction of the travel tax is a blow to our industry, and is bad for exporters, bad for tourism, and bad for our island economy,' Mr Vaughan said. But he said a portion of the tax should be ring-fenced to build up a fund that could be used to protect consumers in the event that a travel supplier fails.
