27 Apr
2017

Get ready for summer

With the summer season about to get underway this special edition of ABTA Today is designed to serve as a reminder of some of the important matters to consider as you prepare for what for many is the busiest time of the year. Now is the time to make sure your business has the necessary actions in place - from protecting your business against the rising number of fraudulent holiday sickness claims to making sure that your frontline staff are prepared to answer questions on travel advice and accessible travel.

We have important guidance designed to support your business on many of these areas including gastric illness, accessibility and tourism accommodation safety. In our Tourism Accommodation Health and Safety Technical guide, you can find detailed information covering the many diverse areas that health and safety encompasses; fire, water, pools, balconies and security. In the absence of international laws, the guide can be used as a basis for improving safety standards and working with suppliers. 

We also offer consumer advice on abta.com, which you can use and share to remind your customers of the importance of things such as water safety and balcony safety. Via our marketing toolkit you can download and order useful information for your customers including our popular ‘How to have a safe and healthy holiday in the sun’ z-cards. You can also download shareable images and videos for your social media channels. 

Finally, I would like to highlight the importance of making sure that, prior to booking, your customers are made aware of where to find Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) advice. This week the FCO made changes to the way they describe the terrorist threat in destinations, adding more specific information – Members are advised to familiarise themselves with the new format that will apply for each of the destinations they feature.

Ensuring that people can travel with confidence is of critical importance to the travel industry and central to the work we do at ABTA: I would urge all Members to take advantage of the many resources we have available to you.

Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive