17TH ANNUAL TRAVEL LAW SEMINAR
It’s a changing world
ABTA Ltd
Venue: K&L Gates LLP, One New Change, London EC4M 9AF
Date: 28-29 April 2015
THE PROGRAMME – DAY ONE
09:30
10:00
10:10
10:35
11:10
11:45
12:05
12:35
Registration and coffee
Introduction and opening remarks
Simon Bunce, Head of Legal & Member
Services, ABTA
The new Package Travel Directive and what it
means for you
Is your business subject to the new law?
 Definition of a package holiday – What’s
changed?
 Assisted Travel Arrangement – Is this FlightPlus by another name?
 How does this this affect airlines, travel
agents and OTAs?
Pete Baxter, General Counsel UK, TUI Travel PLC
What will you need to do to sell holidays from
2017?
 What information must you give your
customers?
 How must customers be protected if
companies go bust?
 What must you do if things change before
departure?
Paula Macfarlane, Senior Solicitor, ABTA
What will you be liable for when things go
wrong?
 Who is liable for the holiday services?
 Has the position changed from the current
rules?
 Ash clouds – What must you do when things
go wrong due to force majeure?
Maria Pittordis, Business Group Leader, Marine,
Trade and Energy, Hill Dickinson
Tea and coffee break
Package Travel panel discussion
Above speakers joined by Anne Dolan, Solicitor
Irish Travel Agents Association; Richard Downs,
Chief Executive Officer, Iglu.com and Stephen
D’Alfonso, Head of Public Affairs, ABTA
The sharing economy and new trading models
Customers are finding new ways of buying
holiday services and businesses are finding new
ways of selling:
 Can the law keep up with the changes?
 Should it try?
Alex Padfield, Managing Partner, Hextalls
13:00
13:55
14:00
14:50
15:30
15:50
16:15
16:45
17:00
Lunch break
Welcome back
Simon Bunce, Head of Legal & Member
Services, ABTA
Selling online – who controls the sales price?
 Booking.com, Expedia and interContinental
Hotel Group – The competition authorities’
next steps
 Is your lead-in price legal? Taxes, charges and
debit card fees
Neil Baylis, Partner, K&L Gates
Selling online – who controls the content?
 Database, data control and data protection –
The heart of your business
 Screenscraping – Can you use other travel
companies’ content? And what would Ryanair
have to say about it?
Noirin McFadden, Associate, K&L Gates
Employment Law Update
 How can the new Fit for Work service help
you deal with capability absence
 How you deal with holiday pay
 Shared parental leave
Rebecca Thornley-Gibson, Partner, Employment
& Head of Travel, ASB Law
Tea and coffee break
Tax update
 VAT and TOMS – The latest positions from
HMRC and the EU
David Bennett, Elman Wall Bennett
Developments in consumer protection
 Misleading selling – Can customers just cancel
the holiday and demand their money back?
 Misleading advertisements – Recent decisions
and their impact on travel marketing
 EU small claims tactics – The future of crossborder holiday claim litigation?
Ian Skuse, Partner, Head of Aviation, Travel &
Tourism, Piper Smith Watton
Summary of the day
Simon Bunce, Head of Legal & Member
Services, ABTA
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17TH ANNUAL TRAVEL LAW SEMINAR
It’s a changing world
ABTA Ltd
Venue: K&L Gates LLP, One New Change, London EC4M 9AF
Date: 28-29 April 2015
THE PROGRAMME – DAY TWO
09:30
10:00
Registration and coffee
Introduction and opening remarks
Simon Bunce, Head of Legal & Member
Services, ABTA
12:15
ATOL and financial protection
10:10
10:35
10:55
11:25
11:45
Three years on, are you complying with the
2012 regulations?
 When to issue ATOL Certificates and when
not to
 Are your agency agreements putting your
business at risk?
 Do you act as agent for the consumer or the
airline?
Tom Mitchell, Solicitor, MB Law
ATOL; maximising regulatory compliance
 Developments to the ATOL Scheme
David Moesli, Deputy Director, Consumer
Protection Group and Christina Brazier,
ATOL Manager, Civil Aviation Authority
The future of financial protection in UK and
overseas
 What challenges will the CAA, ABTA and the
UK Government face from the new Package
Travel Directive?
 How can travel companies take advantage of
the new Package Directive?
 Could the new Package Travel Directive spell
the end of financial protection?
Stephen Mason, Senior Partner, Travlaw
Tea and coffee break
Financial Protection Panel discussion
Above speakers joined by Stephen Powton,
Financial and Consumer Protection Team,
Department for Transport and John de Vial,
Head of Financial Protection, ABTA
12:45
13:45
13:50
14:30
15:00
15:30
15:50
16:40
16:50
(It may be necessary, for reasons beyond our control, to alter the
content or timings of the programme.)
Handling customer complaints
 Will the new ADR Directive change the way
you have to deal with complaints?
 Arbitration or small claims court – How to
decide?
 What to do when your overseas customers
complain
Susan Deer, Group Lawyer, Cosmos Holidays
Limited; Sue Barham, Partner, Holman Fenwick
Willan
Lunch break
Welcome back
Simon Bunce, Head of Legal & Member
Services, ABTA
How social media can be used to build up,
and bring down, a travel business
 Avoiding the legal pitfalls of sharing?
 Can you stop your customers telling the
world when things go wrong?
 Can social media help in a crisis?
Sophie Arrowsmith, Solicitor and Christopher
Hutchings, Partner, Hamlins LLP
Managing risk in dangerous times
 Terrorism, Ebola, earthquakes and
hurricanes: Selling dream holidays is not
always easy
 It’s not your fault, so are you liable?
 How can you protect your business now and
when the Package Directive changes?
Claire Mulligan, Head of Travel, Kennedys
It’s a changing world – panel session
Above speakers joined by Noirin McFadden,
Associate, K&L Gates and Andy Cooper, CEO,
Owens Cooper Consulting
Tea and coffee break
The essential case law update – Travel
company cases from the past 12 months
Sarah Prager, Barrister, 1 Chancery Lane
Summary
Simon Bunce, Head of Legal & Member
Services, ABTA
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