Professor David Grant has delivered his inaugural lecture as our Vantage Visiting Professor of Travel Law.

His lecture, 'The Package Travel Directive: Headed for the Departure Lounge?' examined areas such as the history of package travel law, its current relevance in the context of internet travel suppliers and no frills airlines, the types of reform that may result from recent consultations and discussions on the future of package travel.

Professor Grant commented: "The numbers of holidaymakers protected against the eventuality of tour operators going bust has fallen dramatically in recent years from about 98 per cent ten years ago to about 50 per cent today.

"This is due mainly to the rise of low cost airlines and the development of the internet - permitting more 'independent travel' but at the expense of consumer protection.  The new proposals put forward will redress the balance in favour of consumers again."

Professor Grant taught law at Newcastle Polytechnic and Northumbria University from 1980 to 2008. He was a member of the working party that established the first undergraduate degree in travel and tourism in the UK.  He now runs a small academic press which publishes the Travel Law Quarterly which entered its third year of publication.

Vantage Insurance Services, which sponsors Professor Grant's position at Leeds Metropolitan, is a leading, independent Underwriting Agent based in the City of London.