Holiday-makers warned about risks of 'self-packaged' tours

Consumers have been advised to beware the risks involved in arranging holidays abroad without the involvement of professional travel agents.

Companies selling holidays during the traditional new year boom have warned that 'self-packaged' tours provide no protection for the consumer.

Niall McDonnell, the managing director of Panorama and Airtours Holidays, said: "The last couple of years has seen a huge amount of growth in what we in the industry call self-packaging, where people are basically buying a flight only and then booking a hotel overseas on the internet.

"I think there needs to be some degree of awareness among consumers that that type of package is not actually bonded, so there's no consumer protection in place.

"In other words, if the airline or the hotelier gets into some sort of financial difficulty, their money is gone."