United Kingdom
United States
Asia Pacific
FTO wants clearer guidelines for travellers
Thursday, 28 Nov, 2005
0
ABTA Convention special report: Federation of Tour Operators director Andy Cooper has said holidaymakers must be made aware that they will not automatically be repatriated in a crisis if they have not bought a package.
After the boxing day tsunami, tour operators sent out aircraft to pick up their passengers, but the Foreign Office also sent an aircraft to Bangkok, Thailand, on January 1st, to repatriated other stranded Brits.
“We are unhappy that the Foreign Office is acting as an insurer of last resort. It is undermining the work of tour operators and people shouldn’t expect to be looked after if they book independently,” said Cooper.
He did not want to see Brits left in a crisis situation, but said an alternative might be for independent travellers to be taken to a neutral area and then told to make their own way home. During hurricane Wilma, around 8,500 of the 10,000 Brits in Cancun, Mexico, where on a package and tour operators brought them back to the UK. The Foreign Office flew independent travellers to Dallas.
“I think that was more by accident because the aircraft wasn’t big enough to bring people back to the UK, but we were happy with that situation. Even so, there were Brits complaining that they had been dumped in Dallas and not taken home.”
Foreign Office director of consular services Paul Sizeland said: “The issue is where the government’s responsibility lies. We are working with the travel industry on this one.”
Report by Jeremy Skidmore
Related News Stories:
Bubba O’Keefe on Clarksdale’s Vibrant Music Scene
Commemorating Elvis and Embracing Tupelo’s Culture with Jennie Bradford Curlee
Craig Ray and the Expansion of the Blues Trail
Presenting Mississippi’s Cultural Trails with Katie Coats
Robert Terrell: A Journey Through BB King’s Influence
Rochelle Hicks: Celebrating Mississippi’s Musical Legacy
Exploring Jacksonville with Katie Mitura: The Flip Side of Florida
Tricia Handley-Hughes of Inteletravel announces the location for the TravelQuest 2025 conference
Insights from James Ferrara on Inteletravel’s Growth and Future
Tricia Handley-Hughes on Inteletravel’s Growth and Challenges
Tony from Gatto’s Pizza on Columbus’s Unique Pizza Trail
Sophia Hyder Hock on Global Social Inclusion in Tourism
Dozens fall ill in P&O Cruises ship outbreak
Woman dies after getting ‘entangled’ in baggage carousel
Turkish Airlines flight in emergency landing after pilot dies
Boy falls to death on cruise ship
Protestors now targeting Amsterdam cruise calls