"Surge" in flight bookings with Atol members

The recent collapses of companies such as Zoom Airlines and XL Leisure have led to a "surge" in bookings with members of the Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (Atol) scheme, according to the Association of Independent Tour Operators (Aito).

Derek Moore, chairman of Aito, said that tour operators, unlike airlines, offer complete security to their customers.

"Airlines are always going to come and go, that's a fact of the airline industry, there will always be airlines going bust…because they work on fairly tight margins," he commented.

Mr Moore said that the collapse of XL and Zoom showed consumers the value of booking with a tour operator.

He added: "This is the time when money may be tight for some people and there is a lot of economic uncertainty, make sure your holiday is protected and book with a recognisable tour operator."

According to the Office for National Statistics, UK residents made around 17.8 million trips abroad in the three months to July this year.

Both North America and Europe saw an increase of two per cent in the number of UK visitors in this period, according to the figures.

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