CATO Calls For ‘Thorough Review’ Of Ontario Travel Industry Act

The Canadian Association of Tour Operators (CATO) is calling on the Ontario government to initiate a ‘thorough review’ of the province’s Travel Industry Act (TIA).

In its response to the Travel Industry Council of Ontario’s (TICO) proposals for a new funding framework and fee structure, CATO is asking the provincial government to “fix this 40-year-old legislation and its regulations, which does not reflect the environment of the Ontario Travel Industry today.  The TIA was designed in the 70s in the era of a cash and cheque economy. Today, over 90% of transactions are using credit cards or other forms of e-commerce.”

CATO is also asking the Ontario government “to act as an advocate for travel consumers, and to engage its federal counterparts in a discussion of solutions to protect Canadian travellers, especially travel on federally regulated end-suppliers (air and cruise bookings) and given its exclusive responsibility for legislating the airlines and cruise lines service providers under its jurisdiction.”

The association makes it clear that it “cannot support a proposal for change that fails to respond to the travel industry’s repeated demands. We can no longer be the only ones to bear the brunt of an inadequate, outdated, and costly system.”

The association said that “this review exercise only serves TICO’s needs, and does not consider the needs of the industry or the improvement of consumer protection.”

CATO said that “along with its partner ACTA, it cannot support a proposal that ignore the current state of the Ontario travel industry and fails to modernize an outdated regulatory system.

Go to www.cato.ca for more.