AITO Membership

AITO members are independent companies specialising in particular destinations or types of holiday. This means that they are uniquely placed to provide personalised advice and recommendations based on first-hand experience.

Every AITO member is passionate about its chosen destinations and activities, and keen to share that enthusiasm with discerning holidaymakers.

AITO Quality Charter

AITO members aim to provide the highest level of customer satisfaction in terms of choice, quality and service.

Every AITO holiday is backed not only by full financial protection but also by AITO’s Quality Charter which is laid out below.

Exclusive Membership

AITO sets criteria regarding ownership, finance and quality which must be satisfied before new companies are admitted to membership. All members are required to adhere to a Code of Business Practice which encourages high operational standards and conduct.

Financial Security

An AITO member is required to arrange financial protection for all holidays and other arrangements (including accommodation only) booked by customers with the member under the AITO logo. This financial protection applies to customers who are resident in the UK at the time of booking and to most overseas customers who have booked directly with the member. In doing so, the member must comply with UK Government regulations. Members are required to submit details of their financial protection arrangements to AITO on a regular basis.

Accurate holiday descriptions

All members do their utmost to ensure that all their brochures and other publications, print or electronic, clearly and accurately describe the holidays and services offered.

Professional service and continual improvements

All members are committed to high standards of service and believe in regular and thorough training of employees. Members continually seek to review and improve their holidays. They listen to their customers and always welcome suggestions for improving standards.

Monitoring standards

AITO endeavours to monitor quality standards regularly. All customers should receive a post-holiday questionnaire from their tour operator, the results of which are scrutinised by the Association.

In addition, customers can leave detailed feedback, accessible from the homepage of this website, or via a direct link supplied by their AITO tour operator, about their holiday.

Sustainable tourism

Our members acknowledge the importance of AITOs Sustainable Tourism ethos, which recognises the social, economic and environmental responsibilities of tour operating.

Customer relations

All members endeavour to deal swiftly and fairly with any issues their customers may raise. In the unlikely event that a dispute between an AITO member and a customer cannot be settled amicably, either party can call on an arbitration service to bring the matter to a speedy and acceptable conclusion.

Further details of AITO can be found at aito.com/absolute-escapes