We spoke to Derek Moore, AITO Chairman, and he shared his thoughts on Spain and the recent terrorist attack.
The bomb attack in Mallorca last week has once again brought the spectre of terrorism into our consciousness and made us ask searching questions of our responsibilities to ourselves and our clients. Should we be sending travellers to Spain? Will people be safe?
When it comes to holidays, the British are a resilient lot but we’re not foolhardy. We are typically well-informed and can, to a large extent, can evaluate our level of personal risk. It takes a lot for us to forego a holiday and I fail to see travellers being put off by a relatively isolated incident. To put things in a British context, last week was the equivalent of an incident on the Isle on Man and that is unlikely to put anyone off visiting Cornwall or London. When speaking with AITO members, they have all said that people are not being overly cautious - it’s very much a case of full steam ahead.
I can appreciate that many agents out there may be under pressure from clients seeking reassurance about travelling to Spain. Cancelling holidays is exactly what the terrorists want us to do and there aren’t many places left to visit if we all abandon countries touched by terrorism. I would consider myself extremely unfortunate to be caught up in anything like last week’s incident and it certainly would not stop me from travelling to Spain or recommending it to others. While the FCO advice for visiting Spain is ambiguous, the threat level is at a similar level to that for the USA, so I think that agents should tentatively encourage clients to travel. There are some incredible deals to be had in Spain and the risk is really no more than that which we face in the UK.
The Spanish tourist industry has been incredibly supportive of the UK travel trade - fam trips, agents’ training, sponsorship of events, hosting of conferences, etc., and now is the time to reciprocate and demonstrate our support for the Spanish tourism industry. Friends stay together in times of trouble and, rest assured, I cannot wait for my next trip to Spain. Derek Moore.
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“Is this the embassy? Where’s the best place to buy some new shoes?”
Thursday, August 13th, 2009Advice on where to buy a particular brand of shoes in Italy is just one of the bizarre requests British holidaymakers have recently been making to embassies across the world. Other enquiries revealed by the Foreign Office included a jam-maker asking what ratio of fruit-to-sugar he should use, and a woman seeking help after becoming unhappy at the size of her surgically-enhanced breasts.
While these tales may make us chuckle, it is worth remembering the more serious issue that they bring to light. The Foreign Office have been prompted into reminding tourists that consular staff are emplyed only to help British citizens in time of serious difficulty – when a national has been involved in an accident, say, or when a Briton has lost his or her passport.
These reports of such unncessary requests echo previous stories of frivolous 999 calls made to police. In December last year, a woman called the emergency services to complain she was unable to get through to Strictly Come Dancing to vote for Tom Chambers in the final. Equally frustrated was a man who complained staff at a pizza shop had put mushrooms on his pizza without being asked, and a chap who dialled 999 to ask what his mobile number was. Again on a serious note, the police revealed these details in order to remind the public not to call emergency numbers for ridiculous reasons.
It’s quite unbelievable that we live in a world where we need telling such things - can the average human being now not do anything unassisted? Perhaps the advice issued by government officials last year on how to use a step ladder - mocked by so many - wasn’t actually an over-reaction, but actually sensible instructions for a very needy nation! And perhaps it is us, not the government after all, who have gone mad?
Although the advice issued in May that householders should prepare for a potential heatwave by painting the outside of their homes white (to reflect the heat) may be taking things a little too far…
Tags: "foreign office", "silly government warnings", advice, FCO, heatwave, humorous, “travel pr”
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