Stay Safe On Holiday

Experts are urging British holidaymakers to stay safe abroad by making sure they have adequate travel insurance in place to protect against all eventualities.

As the holiday season approaches, every year, many families will be jetting off to escape the British weather and enjoy the sun, but not all will have full travel insurance cover. According to figures seen by the Times, Brits make over 60 million trips overseas every year, but as many as one in seven fail to take out an adequate travel insurance policy.

As the director general of the Federation of Tour Operators (FTO), the industry body whose members account for around 70 per cent of the UK's package holiday market, points out, some countries take health and safety less seriously than Britain, and so travel insurance is especially important in case of accidents.

"Health and safety is an issue very much on the British agenda, but that hasn't always been the case in other parts of [the world]," he commented.

European destinations account for around 80 per cent of package holidays taken by Britons, according to the Office for National Statistics, and yet as far as hotel safety is concerned codes of practice from country to country can vary significantly.

In an attempt to rectify the problem, in 1992 the European Union introduced the Package Travel Directive, a piece of legislation designed to ensure hotels meet basic standards in their provision of health and hygiene services. Covering everything from clean bathrooms to clear fire escapes and secure hotel balconies it led, in turn, to the FTO issuing its Preferred Code of Practice, a set of checks and balances recognised today as some of the most stringent in the world.

As a result holidaymakers heading overseas are being advised to read the small print of their travel insurance cover carefully and shop around for the best deals in order to make sure they are properly covered for whatever types of activities they are planning while they are away.

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