A WEEK AT ABTA. I'm taking a break this week following Triton in Tenerife, but life at ABTA goes on without me. Keith Richards, our Head of Consumer Affairs is meeting the RNIB to draft a new guide for Members on the best way to comply with the disability discrimination laws. In December a new Disability Discrimination Act comes into force, which widens the existing law to include people with serious medical conditions such as HIV and cancer. The new law also brings in modes of transport and has particularly wide ranging implications for the travel trade, as this could include aviation and passenger shipping in the longer term. We're also teaming up with the Government on a new campaign called Get Safe Online which launches next week. This gives some useful tips for safe booking online and recommends that people look for the ABTA logo when booking. Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive

CODE OF CONDUCT: TRAVEL INSURANCE TRAINING. Members are reminded that all travel insurance qualification records for all branches should have been updated by 8 May 2006, following the letters sent on 15 February and 24 April 2006. Members have one final opportunity to update their records by logging on www.abta.co.uk/app/insurance.htm. Where Members have not updated their records by 15 May 2006, they will be referred to the Code of Conduct Committee as an apparent breach of Clause 1.7 of the Code. If you have any queries about this, please contact Clare Thomas (cthomas@abta.co.uk) on 020 7307 1959.

VARIG BRAZILIAN AIRLINES. Further to ABTA Today of 20 April, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office now advises that VARIG is undergoing a process of court supervised restructuring - see www.fco.gov.uk. VARIG has advised us that a substantial financial deposit has been lodged with IATA to cover its estimated liabilities vis-�-vis IATA BSP. IATA has confirmed this. If you have any queries, please contact the Members' Information line (membersinfo@abta.co.uk) on 0845 177 2282.

LEGISLATION OUTLAWING AGE DISCRIMINATION. Members should be aware that on 1 October 2006 legislation outlawing age discrimination will come into force, covering both employment and vocational training in every organisation in hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism. Employers will no longer be able to recruit, train, promote or retire people solely on the basis of age. Members with any queries concerning this issue can contact the ABTA Employment Law helpline - see www.abtamembers.org/abtahelplines. Springboard UK has produced a magazine providing practical information on age issues for employers in this sector. To receive copies of the magazine, please e-mail BeReady@springboarduk.org.uk.

MINTEL'S HOLIDAYS ON THE INTERNET - 2006. ABTA Travel Industry Partner Mintel has published a new report, Holidays on the Internet 2006, which estimates that 16.4 million overseas holidays or components were booked on the internet in 2005. Mintel's findings show that the majority of online holidays (55%) are booked to Europe, while 16% are booked to other overseas destinations. It has also found that although city and short breaks are popular, beach and resort holidays for a duration of seven nights are the most popular type of trip booked online. ABTA Members are entitled to a 10% discount when buying any of Mintel's reports and a 25% discount on an annual subscription to any of Mintel's industry journals. For further information, please see www.mintel.com docs or contact Anouk Mariacci (amariacci@mintel.com) on 020 7606 6000.

For a list of forthcoming ABTA events, including regional meetings and seminars, go to www.abtamembers.org/diary.htm For a list of ABTA publications, consumer leaflets, and ABTA-branded items, go to www.abta.com/publications