Six leading operators have signed up to a pledge from the Safer Tourism Foundation to reduce death, injury and illness on holiday.
Thomas Cook, Cosmos, Neilson, British Airways Holidays, Saga Group – including Destinology, Titan Travel and Saga Holidays – and Intrepid Travel have all committed to the six-point pledge.
The Safer Tourism Pledge, which launches in April, is “a safety stamp” of six commitments, from improving health and safety management for tourists to sharing incident data.
Each supports the foundation’s goal to cut the number of avoidable deaths, injuries and illnesses among Britons on holiday.
The Safer Tourism Foundation was formed in 2016, a decade after patron Sharon Wood’s two children died of carbon monoxide poisoning while on a Thomas Cook holiday in Corfu.
Chief executive Kathy Atkinson said 90% of 2,000 travellers polled in a recent survey expressed an interest in a safety pledge.
She said: “The pledge is designed to tell the public what they want to know. What we are trying to do is stop people getting hurt and dying on holiday. We want people to travel well and better so they keep on travelling.”
Audley Travel, British Airways Holidays, Explore, Thomas Cook and Tui were among the brands that helped the foundation draw up the pledge. Atkinson hopes all 25 of the charity’s partners will soon commit to the pledge.
She added that it had been “a challenge” to develop a common set of commitments that was applicable to all travel brands.
Two of the six commitments have alternate versions that apply to adventure tour operators.
Meanwhile, the Safer Tourism Foundation is planning to run four campaigns during 2019, focusing on carbon monoxide poisoning, road safety, young adults and the sea.
The campaign on carbon monoxide poisoning, aimed at self-catering ski holidays, launched last week.
