There are many challenges facing travel companies as they restart their travel programmes following the Covid ‘close down.’ One of those challenges is to ensure the safety and security of customers.
Be it a new tour operator or a well established one, creating a health and safety programme that is fit for purpose will require a well thought out management strategy. 

As travel reopens, travel providers are now having to balance Covid 19 risk management with other health and safety protocols, and provide customers with the reassurance they require in order to build customer confidence in a changing landscape. 

Establishing a balanced approach across your portfolio is imperative to guarantee a uniform approach to health and safety. There will likely be a need to involve external specialists to help kick start the safety and security programmes or to cooperate with travel companies who may in other areas be competitors. 

As accommodation reopens, managing accommodation safety issues and developing a sustainable programme based on the risk associated with individual properties is key, along with identifying the many ways to gather risk information that is appropriate to the risk posed in individual accommodation units. 

It is important to consider whether information associated with incidents and sickness outbreaks, that have previously affected your customers, can be incorporated into your company procedures and practices to help manage risk in future. 

Many companies will likely be able to manage their portfolio once it is established, some will need the support of external specialists in the longer term. Knowing what support is available will help you to choose the best way forward for your company.

Preverisk will be speaking at ABTA’s upcoming Health, Safety and Security in Travel Conference about how to get the balance right between COVID-19 protocols and other health, safety and security processes, incident response and reporting plus leading a practical workshop on managing accommodation safety. The event will provide a forum where solutions to some of the issues being faced by travel providers can be explained and developed to suit the needs of your business.

ABTA’s Health, Safety and Security in Travel Conference is taking place from 23-24 March at Kennedys offices in central London. Join senior health and safety, operations, compliance, governance and tourism professionals at this important two-day conference, which will provide practical and actionable advice on all areas of health, safety and security. Engage in workshops, deep dive sessions and panel discussions. Take the opportunity to benchmark your organisation against your peers, network with industry colleagues, get an update on your legal responsibilities and more.

Author: Terry Auld, Consultant, Preverisk

Download the full agenda, find out more and register your place