UK Watchdog Warns Holiday Companies Over Refunds As Travel Restarts

Britain’s competition watchdog told package holiday companies on Thursday, May 13, they must be ready to refund consumers if foreign trips this summer are canceled by the coronavirus pandemic, after it received a barrage of complaints last year, reported Reuters.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) stated it had taken steps to remind package travel operators of their legal obligations over refunds, seeking to avoid what happened last summer when cancelled trips resulted in 23,000 complaints.

TUI UK, one of Britain’s biggest package operators, has already improved the information it provides to customers and made it easier for them to get their money back after a slap on the wrist from the CMA.

Britain has stated that people can travel abroad again from May 17, but there are only a limited number of places where they can go without needing to quarantine on their return home. Portugal is the main holiday destination currently on the “green list.”

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