The Safer Tourism Foundation was founded following the deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning of Bobby and Christi Shepherd, who died in Corfu in 2006. Their mother, Sharon Wood, worked with Thomas Cook to set up the charity in 2016.
The pledge aims to put collaboration ahead of competition. Safer Tourism reviews the safety management systems of companies wishing to sign up to the Pledge, and Pledge companies agree to six commitments.
These include a promise to share Safer Tourism’s mission to save lives and reduce preventable injury to holidaymakers and to demand high safety standards from suppliers. Operators must also provide clients with practical advice and resolve any safety issues quickly.
Data and best practice must also be shared and participants must agree to “commit to leveraging their influence” in destinations to improve standards.
Marc Jordan, Tui’s director of security, health and safety, crisis and business continuity management, said: “The Safer Tourism Pledge partnership further cements our drive for improvement in the safety culture across the industry. Everyone at Tui continues to lead the way in the safety and security for all travellers so they can enjoy their well-deserved holidays.”
Safer Tourism Foundation chief executive Katherine Atkinson said Tui had been "a great collaborator" since the charity was launched by sharing anonymised safety incident data and participating in its workshops.
"Tui was a key member of the group of travel companies which helped to develop and shape the pledge, ensuring the pledge commitments accurately reflect excellence in travel safety systems, while recognising travellers’ responsibility for their own safety."
