Since starting work I have noticed that the expectations of a lot of travellers are often quite high and we can deal with some very angry responses when we are unable to help as much as they would like. As mentioned in my previous Blog when I was unable to assist in improving the food quality in a hotel I was given the reply ‘ well what can you do then?’ A more serious example though is when someone is arrested. Some of the arrests we deal with are often alcohol related and whilst those involved are repentant the next day, they still need to deal with the consequences of their actions. I have been surprised by the amount of people who expect us to be able to get them out of the police cells. They can become quite furious when we have to explain that we cannot influence the Greek judicial system. We can offer considerable assistance though, for example providing a list of English-speaking lawyers and translators or contacting their next of kin back in the UK. We also can’t pay any legal fees but we can suggest ways of getting money transferred over here. We will always do everything we can to help during a distressing time but we have no more influence over here as we would if someone was arrested back in the UK.
The FCO is doing its best to manage people’s expectations and the Know Before you Go campaign which was launched back in 2001 now has 250 travel industry partners. On a ‘ground’ level, we work closely with the Tour Operators. We hold a meeting at the start of the season just to clarify the kind of support we can give. We then continue this relationship by regular contact throughout the season. Once a month I attend the Federation of British Tour Operators meetings which is a great opportunity to get everyone together to discuss how the season is going, what issues we have had and how we can work even more effectively. The support and assistance of the tour operators in invaluable. They have direct contact with most of the British travellers here so can help get the important messages across. And in the end we are all working towards the same goal – happy, healthy, incident free holidays.
Posted at 08:06 26 August 2008 by Sarah Ticherou | Comments[2]
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