travel and hotel costs and transport home if they are abroad. In addition to financial protection, ABTA members are also bound to comply with the ABTA code of conduct, which ensures high service standards and fair terms of trading. Booking with an ABTA member also provides recourse should there be a problem or complaint with the travel company. ATOL ATOL stands for Air Travel Organisers’ Licence. It is a government-run financial protection scheme operated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). All monies paid for package holidays involving flights and holidays including a flight plus accommodation and/or car hire, must be protected under an ATOL licence. Customers will receive an ATOL Certificate at the time of payment. ATOL cover means that if a travel company fails and a holiday can no longer go ahead the customer will be entitled to a refund if they are yet to travel and hotel costs and flights home if they are abroad. Flights booked directly with an airline are not protected under the ATOL scheme. ATOL is a financial protection scheme, it does not provide other assistance if there are other problems with a holiday. When customers' money will be automatically protected: Packages. Packages offer the best form of protection. Not only are holidaymakers entitled to a refund or repatriation should their travel company go out of business, but they also benefit from additional legal protection should there be a problem with their holiday. Flight-Plus. This is where a flight is booked, along with accommodation and/or car hire to be used with it, from one company but they haven't packaged it together. These arrangements are financially protected, however, they do not provide the same legal protection as a package should there be a problem with the holiday. Charter flights. Structure ABTA currently has around 1,200 members and represents over 5,000 retail outlets and offices. It is estimated that over £32 billion is spent on holiday arrangements with ABTA members every year, 90% of package holidays in the UK are sold through its members. It has eleven regional divisions. The head office is situated near Vinopolis and Southwark Cathedral. Research A 2018 report by ABTA claims that the majority of UK summer holidays abroad are to seven EU member states: Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and Malta. These seven countries generated 35 million visits by UK residents. See also International Air Transport Association (IATA) Association