Safety Abroad

After the death of her six-year old daughter, Eden, Elli Galvani became painfully aware of the number of children and adults who suffer death or serious injury every year because of the lack of health and safety abroad, and the fact that many of these families never get justice.

It is vital to try and stay as safe as possible both at home and abroad. We encourage adoption of safety standards by tour operators and compliance with safety regulations.

This page offers a range of useful links regarding health and safety.

Websites

Tips for Safely Travelling Abroad

Here are our top tips for travelling abroad. Please pay particular attention to tip number 1 – many people do not realise that their passport should be valid until well after their trip date, not just for their nominal travel period.

1. Make sure you have a signed, valid passport and visas, if required.

In general, your passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond your intended stay, in accordance with international treaties.
If you don’t have a passport, apply for one now. Summer is peak travel period and passport offices around the world are inundated with requests for new passports. No matter which country you are a citizen of, you should allow at least two months for processing. Some countries require longer, some require less, but rather than risk not getting it in time, start the process now. Whatever you do, don’t wait until after the beginning of June to do this.
Also, before you go, fill in the emergency information page of your passport!

2. Familiarise yourself with local laws and customs of the countries to which you are travelling.

Remember, your home country’s laws do not follow you when you go abroad! While in a foreign country, you are subject to its laws.

3. Make 2 copies of your passport identification page (the one with your picture and biographical data on it).

This will facilitate replacement if your passport is lost or stolen. Leave one copy at home with friends or relatives. Carry the other with you in a separate place from your passport. Do NOT carry it with your passport.

4. If you are a UK citizen, prior to your departure, you should register with the nearest UK embassy.

Registration will make your presence and whereabouts known in case it is necessary to contact you in an emergency. Remember to leave a detailed itinerary and the numbers or copies of your passport or other citizenship documents with a friend or relative in the UK.

5. To avoid being a target of crime, try not to wear conspicuous clothing and expensive jewellery and do not carry excessive amounts of money or unnecessary credit cards.

Photocopy the fronts and backs of any cards you do carry; leave one copy at home with your itinerary and keep the other copy with you, separate from your cards. Should your cards be stolen, you will have all the numbers you need at hand to make sure you are protected from unauthorized charges.

6. Familiarise yourself with the safety procedures in your resort.

When you arrive at your resort, make sure you familarise yourself completely with the safety procedures in your room and in the resort generally. If any instructions are missing, ask reception and the manager to provide these to you and other guests.