Key Travel Industry Regulators and Why Your Accountants Should Know Everything About Them

Key Travel Industry Regulators and Why Your Accountants Should Know Everything About Them

In our previous article, we talked about the importance of travel businesses working with specialist accountants given the challenge of navigating changing and complex regulations.

In the UK, the three key Travel Industry Regulators are:

• Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) who grants an Air Travel Organisers License (ATOL)
• Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA)
• International Air Transport Association (IATA)

At Elman Wall Travel Accountants, our 3 Audit Directors are responsible for over 200 travel businesses of all shapes and sizes with a total turnover in excess of £2 billion.    

We sign off over 100 Annual Returns for ATOL and ABTA annually and have a very strong relationship with them.

We asked each of our 3 Audit Directors why they believe travel businesses need an accountant who understands the needs and requirements of Travel Regulatory bodies.

‘Being Travel Industry specialists for over 20 years, we believe our most added value service to our clients is our knowledge of the regulatory environment they have to operate under. Our knowledge of the Package Travel Regulations, requirements of Travel Regulators and industry experience enables us to advice on the most suitable model for a travel business which in our experience, immediately adds value to the business.’ Yasin Khandwalla, Audit Director

‘Our extensive experience of dealing with the Travel Industry Regulators over the years means that we have come to know what to expect from them and how to negotiate with them, helping to facilitate as smooth a process as possible. We speak with them on a regular basis to ensure we are always up to date with any changes to their approach to assessing risk or applying their financial criteria which, in turn, means we are best placed to offer meaningful and practical advice to our clients.’ Ian Palmer, Head of Audit

‘Our understanding of the key principles and terminology of the different regulatory bodies has enabled us to support and advise our clients on the most suitable ways to meet the legal requirements of the PTRs which has been invaluable to many of our clients, even more so since the pandemic and the significant impact it has had on the whole industry.’ Karen Gill, Associate Director

If you’d like to now more about how we work, check out our Travel FAQs page. Don’t forget to read our travel clients’ testimonials too and if you would like to say ‘Hello’ or ask us anything, drop us a line at info@elmanwall.co.uk