NEWS SPECIAL REPORT
A new industry-wide charity launches this week with the aim of reducing preventable deaths, injuries and illness to British holidaymakers. Lucy Huxley reports
Christi and Bobby Shepherd died of carbon monoxide poisoning on a Cook holiday in Corfu in 2006
Launching the Safer Tourism
Foundation are,
from far left: Peter Fankhauser,
Thomas Cook;
Nick Longman, Tui; Katherine Atkinson, STF; Sharon Wood,
mother of Christi and Bobby
Shepherd and charity trustee
and patron; Andy Squirrel, Titan (Saga); and Ian Ailles, STF
Cook boss urges industry-w
The Safer Tourism Foundation (SFT) is designed to be the “positive and sustainable legacy” of the deaths of Bobby and Christi Shepherd, who died of carbon monoxide poisoning while on holiday in Corfu with Thomas Cook in 2006.
But while Cook has driven the
launch of the foundation and provided the initial £1 million funding, it stresses the STF is a cross-industry initiative that it wants all players to back. Speaking exclusively to Travel
Weekly, Cook chief executive Peter Fankhauser said: “It was after my first meeting with Christi and Bobby’s mother, Sharon Wood, that I realised it could be immensely important that we make some sustainable legacy and this is exactly what deepened our relationship. “We came up with the idea for
the Safer Tourism Foundation and asked Sharon if she would get on board with it. She said yes. It was an amazing step for her – to work with a company that had let her down – and I respect her for this.” Wood has become a trustee
along with Fankhauser and six others. “She will have a voice in the charity, which, as the mother of the
two children who lost their lives, is important,” Fankhauser said. “Cook committed an amount of money, but we didn’t want to make this a PR stunt. We needed to take it away from Thomas Cook and our tragedy, and get the whole industry involved, because the broader it becomes, the more credible it is,” he said.
Other safety issues
The foundation will also focus on other key threats, such as pool safety and balconies, and it will involve more than just the leisure sector. “We have experts from many relevant industries to make this into something really meaningful,” said Fankhauser. “Sharon particularly sees the point that we take it much wider than just carbon monoxide and talking about her kids if it is going to do serious good.” Fankhauser would like to see initial progress in three areas. “I would like to see the travel industry really buying into this – operators, suppliers and newer players,” he said. “If some of our competitors
don’t see the importance of this as an industry-wide initiative,
12
travelweekly.co.uk 14 September 2017 “We currently don’t share our
“We need to take it wider than just carbon monoxide if it is going to do serious good”
it will just make the traditional operators that do, even stronger. “It’s the newer forms of travel company that need it urgently, so I am pretty confident that all will get behind this.” Fankhauser would also like to
see members of the STF share incident data.
data or even report it in the same way. If we can standardise that and share it, we can start to build an accurate picture of the problems.” He would also like to see members get into better contact with their customers, making them more aware of the risks they face, urging them to apply the same diligence to their safety on holiday as they do when they are at home.
Close to home
The charity’s first chief executive, Katherine Atkinson, was appointed at the end of 2016
The SFT’s five key objectives
1) To build an evidence base, with travellers, to understand the causes of preventable injuries, illnesses and deaths.
2) To influence companies, public sector bodies and states to effect practical changes that improve tourists’ health and safety.
3) To influence travellers’ perception of risk and enhance their ability to make ‘safe’ decisions.
4) To act as an information gateway for organisations and individuals with an interest in tourism safety.
5) To develop into an effective charity by fostering collaborations, focusing on practical solutions, and becoming financially sustainable.
› Find out more at
safertourism.org.uk
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