The charity was set up two years ago with a £1 million donation from Thomas Cook, after an inquest into the Shepherds’ deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning in Corfu found that the operator had breached its duty of care.
Fankhauser said that after two years of development, the foundation is now ready to begin its work.
“It has taken us some time; we wanted to make sure we were setting up something that would be sustainable and would encourage wide industry support,” he explained. “But now I believe we are on a good footing.”
Katherine Atkinson has been appointed as the charity’s chief executive and Ian Ailes, formerly of Thomas Cook and Wyndham, is its chair. The charity is now building up a board of trustees from within the industry and from the field of health and safety.
Fankhauser urged other tour operators to support the charity in trying to improve health and safety standards for all holidaymakers.
“Thomas Cook is the founding member but it is not a Thomas Cook charity,” he insisted. “It is an independent foundation that will only be successful if it works right across the industry. This would re-draw the map in this field very significantly and I am encouraged by the feedback of some of my colleagues from our bigger competitors.”
He said that while the charity was born out of a carbon monoxide tragedy, it will also look at other risks to holidaymakers abroad.
“If we can work together as an industry it will add to the trust of our customers that we as an industry do things right,” he added. “Let’s pull all the strings we have to improve health and safety.”
