ABTA – The Travel Association

Travel and holiday companies of the United Kingdom

ABTA Ltd, operating as ABTA – The Travel Association and formerly known as the Association of British Travel Agents, is a trade association for tour operators and travel agents in the United Kingdom.

The organization was founded in 1950, as the Association of British Travel Agents, by 22 leading travel companies. ABTA adopted its current name on 1 July 2007 reflect its wider representation of the travel industry. On 1 July 2008 it merged with the Federation of Tour Operators (FTO). In December 2022, ABTA announced a partnership with Eurochange to offer foreign exchange services under the ABTA brand.

The ATOL scheme of financial protection (see below) covers flight based holidays. If a holidaymaker buys a land or sea based holiday such as coach, rail or cruise holiday from an ABTA member their monies will be protected by the ABTA scheme of financial protection. This means that if the travel company fails and the holiday can no longer go ahead the holidaymaker will be entitled to a refund if they are yet to 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.

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.

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.