UK holidaymakers 'Pack Peace of Mind’ as CAA campaign boosts understanding of ATOL

• CAA's 2015 Pack peace of mind campaign reached potential TV audience of 23m adults
• More holidaymakers say they are now financially protecting their holiday abroad
• Increase in consumers who expect to receive an ATOL certificate
• New CAA infographicprovides further campaign insight and ATOL data

More holidaymakers are financially protecting their holidays and more people recognise the ATOL certificate – these are just two of the headline findings following the CAA's latest Pack peace of mind campaign.

Now in its third year, the Pack peace of mind campaign aims to improve holidaymakers' understanding of ATOL as they research and book their trips abroad. The campaign was given a fresh look and approach in 2015, with fun new imagery created around a family of animated suitcases and the use of television advertising for the first time.

The talking luggage, led by matriarch Justine Case, featured in a short animated video, which hit the small screen on New Year's Day, at the start of the peak booking period.

The campaign was family-focused and aimed to encourage households to look beyond the price and check their air holiday is ATOL protected before they book. It stretched across a variety of media including newspapers, magazines and social media and was covered on radio and television news.

Following this year's campaign the CAA commissioned market research with a representative sample of 1,500 consumers from across all regions parts of the UK.

Key research findings
• More people took steps to ensure their holiday abroad was financially protected against travel company failure – 71 per cent said they protected their last holiday, up from 64 per cent in 2014.
• More people (83 per cent) are planning to financially protect their next holiday abroad. This compares with 75 per cent in 2014.
• More people (48 per cent) now feel fairly or very well informed about the benefits of booking an ATOL protected holiday, an increase of nine per cent.
• The ATOL certificate is becoming more recognised – 55 per cent of those surveyed correctly said you should receive a certificate once you have booked an ATOL protected holiday.
• Majority of holidaymakers (54 per cent) said they actively checked for protection before booking their holiday

Following the latest campaign, the CAA also carried out a survey with ATOL holding travel agents and tour operators, and asked for feedback in relation to the new video and imagery.

The feedback was broadly positive and included the following comments.

"Very clear and simply explained. Great."

"The video does a good job of explaining the benefit that consumers get from booking through an ATOL holder."

"Gets the message across in a friendly and fun way."

"Eye catching and gets the point across. Adverts like this is better for business."

Commenting on the latest campaign, David Moesli, the CAA's Deputy Director of Consumer Protection, said: "Over the last three years, the number of ATOL protected bookings has increased year-on-year and our research shows more people now feel better informed about what ATOL provides and the ATOL certificate is now more recognised. We believe the campaign has played an important role in this and have also been really pleased with how the industry has got behind the campaign.

"With more holidaymakers now solely researching and booking online and with some overseas travel companies selling into the UK, it is vital consumers know what to look out for when booking their holidays.

"Our research shows people are actively checking for protection before they book and we want to build on this - working in partnership with industry so we can ensure consumers know the facts through clear, easy-to-understand information and can book their holiday with peace of mind."

The CAA is committed to helping improve consumers' understanding of financial protection so they can make informed decisions about their holiday bookings and do not leave themselves at risk of being left stranded abroad or out of pocket in the event of their travel company ceasing trading. The results of the Pack peace of mind campaign activity over the last three years will be an important factor as the CAA considers options for communicating information about ATOL to consumers for the next peak booking period and beyond.

Media Enquiries

For more information, please contact the CAA Press Office, on press.office@caa.co.uk, or 020 7453 6030. You can follow the CAA on Twitter at @UK_CAA

For more information about ATOL go to www.packpeaceofmind.co.uk, or follow ATOL on Twitter @packpeaceofmind.

Notes to Editors
• The Air Travel Organiser's Licence (ATOL) scheme is run by the UK Civil Aviation Authority on behalf of the Government, and covers the traditional package holiday, some individual flights and since April 2012 holidays known by the industry as 'Flight-Plus'. A 'Flight-Plus' booking is one that includes a flight plus accommodation and/or car hire, so long as these separate parts of the holiday are booked with the same company and within a day of each other.

• By law, all UK based travel companies selling package holidays or flight and accommodation, known as flight-plus holidays, must have an ATOL licence and consumers must receive an ATOL certificate when booking either a package or a flight-plus holiday.
ATOL protection means consumers are financially protected if their travel company collapses. Those yet to fly will receive a full refund and those already abroad will be flown home.

• Not all travel companies trading in the UK provide ATOL protection. Some companies, based abroad, provide protection through schemes operated in other European countries, although in some cases this financial protection will be more limited than ATOL. To check if a company provides ATOL protection and to find out more about the ATOL scheme and ATOL certificate please visit packpeaceofmind.co.uk.

• The Air Travel Trust (ATT) is the primary source of funding when an ATOL holder fails. It is administered on behalf of the trustees by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

• In 2014/15, 4,795 ATOL protected passengers received full refunds after their travel company collapsed and 534 were repatriated at no extra cost. In 2013/14, 10,373 ATOL protected passengers received refunds and 494 were flown home.

• The CAA is the UK's specialist aviation regulator. Its activities include: making sure that the aviation industry meets the highest technical and operational safety standards; preventing holidaymakers from being stranded abroad or losing money because of tour operator insolvency; planning and regulating all UK airspace; and regulating airports, air traffic services and airlines and providing advice on aviation policy.