What a travel agent's website must show

Key takeaways

A travel agent's website must show how customers are financially protected, including your ATOL number where you sell flight-inclusive packages, and meet the Package Travel Regulations 2018 information duties for packages. Show full prices including mandatory fees, booking and cancellation terms, and how to contact you before and during travel.

• Flight-inclusive packages need ATOL protection and your ATOL number.
• Packages need insolvency protection under the 2018 regulations.
• Show prices including mandatory fees and taxes.
• Explain booking, cancellation and amendment terms plainly.

What must a travel agent's website show?

A travel agent's website must show how bookings are protected, including ATOL details for flight-inclusive packages, the pre-contract information required for packages, full prices, booking terms and contact details. Global Bridge Labs (GBL) treats financial protection as the regulated item above the 30-item inventory for travel firms.

• What information should every business website have?
• Show your regulator and registration number online

When is ATOL needed?

ATOL protection, run by the Civil Aviation Authority, is needed when you sell packages that include flights. Show your ATOL number and explain what ATOL protection means for customers. Customers can check ATOL holders, so make sure the number on your site is current.

• Should you show your insurance cover on your website?

What do the Package Travel Regulations require?

The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 require organisers to give standard information before a package is booked, and to protect customers' money against insolvency. Non-flight packages need protection through a bond, trust account or insurance. Explain your arrangements on the website.

• Show buyers your business is financially stable

How should prices be shown?

Show the total price including taxes and mandatory fees. Since April 2025, the DMCC Act 2024 treats leaving unavoidable fees out of headline prices as an unfair practice. Make optional extras, such as insurance or seat selection, clearly separate.

• Prices with or without VAT: what your website shows
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What booking and contact information helps?

Explain deposits, balance due dates, amendment and cancellation charges, and what happens if the trip changes. Give contact routes for before travel and an emergency contact during travel. Customers book more confidently when they know someone will answer abroad.

• Deposits and payment terms: say them on your website
• Out-of-hours and emergency contact details online

When does ATOL not apply?

ATOL does not apply to bookings that do not include flights, though package protection still may. If you only sell accommodation or act as an agent for another organiser, explain who the organiser is and who protects the booking. Be precise; vague protection claims mislead.

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see in independent travel agencies: protection logos appear in the footer with no explanation, and customers ask on the phone what they mean. A short 'your money is protected' page explaining ATOL and package protection answers it once.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses

Travel agent website checklist

• Show your ATOL number if selling flight packages.
• Explain insolvency protection for packages.
• Show prices with mandatory fees.
• Explain deposits, balances and cancellations.
• Give in-travel emergency contact details.
• Say who the organiser is for each booking.

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Next step

Write a plain one-page explanation of how customers' money is protected for each type of booking you sell, and link it from every booking page.