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Agents to gain travel trauma support service
Agency staff and customers are to be offered a support service for handling travel traumas.
The ABTA service, to be provided by the Centre for Crisis Psychology, will give access to a 24-hour telephone helpline, providing advice on protecting the welfare of customers, relatives and staff after an incident.
Agents can also decide whether they need further assistance from CCP’s other services, which include consultants travelling to destinations at short notice to support staff or holidaymakers and provide clinical intervention where necessary.
The company’s staff have worked with survivors on high profile emergencies affecting the travel industry, including 9/11, the Sharm El Sheikh bombings, tsunami and hurricanes.
CCP also provides support on incidents affecting smaller numbers of people, such as balcony falls and road traffic accidents.
It has been involved in more than 1,500 travel related incidents involving thousands of survivors and has responded to 5,000 incidents for its clients in the leisure, travel, financial and retail sectors worldwide.
ABTA will be holding a crisis management workshop on March 5 that will give members help with strategic, operational and PR help on how to prepare for a crisis.
ABTA head of consumer services and business development, Keith Richards said: “It is the first time ABTA members have had open access to discuss proactive, psychological assistance.
“If companies can properly manage the stress and trauma staff and customers suffer as a result of a serious incident, then not only have they morally done the right thing, but they have also potentially saved their business.”
CCP clinical partner Martin Alderton said: “Often, if we are brought in early after an incident, we can provide brief intervention that will avert the need for long-term support and counselling.”
by Phil Davies
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