Last year the Foreign & Commonwealth Office bought together a campaign with UK tour operators to tackle the misuse of alcohol in ski resorts. The campaign helped ensure there were no serious incidents last season for British tourists and on the back of that success the FCO have announced they will continuing with the awareness initiative this winter.
The campaign was set up by the Foreign Office and enjoys support from local police and rescue services, tourist offices and airports in the regions of the Savoie, Haute Savoie, Isère and Rhône, Piemonte, Veneto as well as a host of major French & German speaking ski resorts in Switzerland. The campaign promotes security and safety awareness, the main aim is to avoid accidents and deaths in ski resorts from alcohol as it can affect you more quickly at high altitudes and seriously limits your awareness of danger and cold.
Lynda St Cooke from the Foreign Office’s travel safety campaign ‘Know Before You Go ‘ said: "This is the second year we have worked with our partners to create this safety campaign. It’s not about spoiling people’s fun, but reminding British skiers that prevention is always better than cure and that not having appropriate travel insurance can be a very expensive mistake. Even if you have insurance you can invalidate policies by drinking. Over the years there have been a number of preventable winter sports accidents where people have underestimated the effects of alcohol on their judgment and we all need to remember, it can affect us more at high altitudes."
All major British tour operators including Crystal Ski, Inghams, Thomson Ski, First Choice Ski, Neilson as well as student specialists Off the Piste and Ski Alpine have agreed to collaborate. Projects range from posters in restaurants, bars, airports and other public spaces, as well as leaflets and display material in British tour operator owned chalets, club hotels and bars. For more details see www.fco.gov.uk/travel
Written by Charlie Hamilton-Beaufort