Sarah Ticherou

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Wednesday 26 August, 2009

The FCO has just released the British Behaviour Abroad report which details the top 20 countries where British Nationals required the most consular assistance.Whilst Spain remains at the top of the list due to its volume of arrivals and British residents, Greece also has a high number of consular cases; we have the fourth highest in the world. As you can imagine, the majority of cases take place in the summer when we have a huge influx of British tourists and if we break this number down even further, a high proportion of these involve tourists staying in youth resorts.

Statistics can of course be read and interpreted in different ways. The British Behaviour Abroad isn’t intended to be some kind of league table. But it does highlight to us what sort of problems we deal with in our various countries, and where we need to concentrate our efforts in helping people to have a fun, but safe time on holiday.

These figures, I believe show the need for continuation of all our proactive work. Whatever we can do to make people more aware of some of the situations which can occur on holiday is hopefully a step in the right direction. Chris Bryant, Under-secretary of State for Foreign Affairs said that "many of the problems we deal with can be avoided with a little bit of preparation....The message is clear – have a great time while you’re away, but make the necessary preparations before you go." And as I know all too well from two busy summers in the Vice Consulate, things can go wrong on holiday too, so don’t take any risks that you wouldn’t take at home. Know your own limits, particularly with alcohol. Don’t get separated from your friends. This is all sensible stuff and just because it’s warm and sunny and you’re on holiday, doesn’t mean you’re invincible.

The aim of the ‘Know Before you Go campaign’ and our Greece ‘Other Side of Paradise’ campaign continues to be helping to promote a trouble-free stay abroad, however long your stay. Whilst the ideal situation would be absolutely no requirement for consular services across the world, if we are being realistic this is not achievable. There will always be unforeseen incidents occurring, but any way of reducing these figures and making sure people have problem free holiday would certainly be a welcome improvement. We will certainly strive to get the right messages across both before people travel as well as whilst they are in Greece.