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ABTA, The Travel Association, is the organisation which represents UK travel agents and tour operators responsible for the sale of over 80% of package holidays and approximately 45% of independent travel arrangements.

Our Information Department is pleased to offer advice on travel related subjects and can verify the ABTA membership of your travel agent or tour operator. ABTA members must adhere to the ABTA code of conduct, therefore we are happy to field reports of dissatisfaction with tour operators or travel agents.

ANTOR UK, the Association of National Tourist Offices in the United Kingdom, has a membership of 70 National and Regional Tourist Offices whose tourism officials represent nations from all over the world, with vastly different attractions, resources, geographical features and cultural heritage.

This voluntary non-political organisation has been established in 1952 to represent the collective views of its members to its various publics in order to facilitate travel outbound from the UK.

ATOL – which is short for “Air Travel Organisers' Licensing” – exists to protect the public from losing money or being stranded abroad because of the failure of air travel firms. It was first introduced in 1972 and it gives comprehensive consumer protection to 28 million people in the UK who buy flights or air holidays each year.

ATOL has been providing financial protection to the public for nearly 30 years.  From the moment you book, to when you arrive home, every tour operator offering air inclusive holiday packages must hold an ATOL so that your money is safe.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which is a public corporation, was established by Parliament in 1972 as an independent specialist aviation regulator and provider of air traffic services.

Following the separation of National Air Traffic Services from the CAA in 2001, the CAA is now the UK's independent aviation regulator, with all civil aviation regulatory functions (economic regulation, airspace policy, safety regulation and consumer protection) integrated within a single specialist body.

 The UK Government requires that the CAA's costs are met entirely from its charges on those whom it regulates. Unlike many other countries, there is no direct Government funding of the CAA's work.

Every year, residents of the United Kingdom go on more than 56 million overseas journeys. Travel across the world is now so common that it is easy to forget the health risks which can be involved and the fact that very few countries offer such easy access to medical facilities as Britain. The Dept. of Health website contains advice for travellers about planning ahead, staying healthy and getting treatment elsewhere in the world as well as information about the EHIC, UK citizens’ passport to free or reduced-cost emergency care in most other European countries.

FamilySafePlus+ is a secure online account to store important family information, that can be made available to you, whenever and wherever you need it.

The information is stored behind a unique Family ID and password and can be accessed 24 hours a day, from anywhere in the world, either via our help line or the internet.

The information is stored in three areas - a Family Zone, Travel Zone and Home Zone. The information stored is designed to help the family but will be of no use to anyone else, e.g. Granddad’s medication, insurance policy and contacts, credit card emergency numbers, travel / holiday itinerary. Although address details are taken, this is for account correspondence only and these details are never stored in the account.

Your unique Family ID can also be used to help retrieve lost items. A Family ID on a briefcase, camera, dog collar or more importantly a child’s safety wristband or tag can help a family wherever they go in the world. With a lost child, or perhaps a vulnerable adult, the Family ID will also unlock other important information such as medical conditions and an emergency family contact.

The cost for a family is £15 per year and can include all immediate or extended family members. The account can be accessed, updated and extended as often as you need.

The purpose of the FCO is to work for UK interests in a safe, just and prosperous world. We do this with some 16,000 staff, based in the UK and our overseas network of over 200 diplomatic offices.

The FCO's country-specific Travel Advice notices aim to ensure that British travellers are well prepared before their departure.  The FCO website also contains answers to common questions on travel advice in our FAQs section.  The telephone number for travel advice is 0870 606 0290.

The Health Protection Agency has staff with a great range of skills, knowledge, and experience in a broad range of activities that contribute to the control and prevention of infectious disease.