ABTA working with the Royal Life Saving Society UK on holiday water safety
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dhewitt@abta.co.uk Tue, 06/24/2025 - 13:55
ABTA is partnering with Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) to raise awareness on how to stay safe in and around the water on holiday, particularly in an environment which is new to customers and their families.
With the summer holidays fast approaching and off the back of RLSS UK’s Drowning Prevention Week (14-21 June), now is a good time to encourage people to think about their safety and confidence in the water before they go away. The water safety charity and ABTA have worked together to produce the Holiday Water Safety Toolkit, to help ABTA members share advice with their customers.
With a number of reported accidental drownings of British people happening overseas this year, it is incredibly important that customers are aware of the potential hazards in the water and how to keep themselves safe.
The advice in the Holiday Water Safety Toolkit is based on RLSS UK’s Water Safety Code and has specific advice for travellers to stay safe when they’re abroad and know what to do in an emergency.
The advice encourages holidaymakers to:
ABTA members can access the toolkit by visiting the Marketing Toolkit on the Member Zone at abta.com/marketingtoolkit. The toolkit includes social media graphics, pre-written social media posts and a blog. The toolkit can be used throughout the summer in members’ customer marketing channels.
Graeme Buck, ABTA Director of Communications, said:
“Having fun in the water is at the heart of so many people’s holidays but sadly each year some people do get into difficulty, with some losing their lives in the water.
“Accidents are less likely if people have the right knowledge to enjoy water safely with friends and family.
“This is why we are working with the RLSS UK so that our members can share the charity’s clear and concise advice to help customers and their families have fun in the water safely.”
Charity Director at RLSS UK, Matt Croxall, said:
“Holidays are the perfect time for families to enjoy the water together and with the summer holidays fast approaching, it’s an important time to think about water safety.
“The Water Safety Code is an easy way to start the conversation with your family to ensure a fun and safe holiday.
“This, along with our partnership with ABTA, will allow us to reach as many families as possible with the vital water safety advice in the toolkit ahead of their trips.”
Notes to editors
About ABTA
ABTA is a trade association for UK travel agents, tour operators and the wider travel industry. We’re the largest travel trade body, with over 4,300 travel brands in membership who have a combined annual UK turnover of over £40 billion. We work closely with our members to help raise and maintain standards and build a more sustainable travel industry, and provide travellers with advice, guidance and support.
Our members sign up to a code of conduct and commit to agreed service standards and fair trading. When you need clear travel information, and accurate and impartial advice relating to your trip, we’re here for you. When you book with an ABTA member, reliable advice comes as standard. This means that booking with our members brings peace of mind.
All this together means we help you travel with confidence. www.abta.com
About RLSS UK
For over 130 years, the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) has been sharing its expertise in water safety, lifesaving, and lifeguarding to educate everyone on enjoying water safely.
On average, 328 people accidentally lose their lives to drowning each year in the UK and Ireland, and the RLSS UK aims to prevent drowning through high-quality water safety education.
RLSS UK is the leading provider of lifesaving and lifeguarding training and water safety education in the UK and Ireland.
1,250,000+ children received water safety education using our free, downloadable educational resources during Drowning Prevention Week 2024. RLSS UK's Drowning Prevention Week is the national water safety awareness campaign to reduce the number of accidental drownings that occur each year and support families affected by drowning. The next campaign will run from 14-21 June 2025.
In schools, 8,000+ children completed our class-based Water Smart Schools programme in 2024. Water Smart Schools aims to facilitate access to water safety lessons for children from all communities and backgrounds.
RLSS UK awards and programmes teach a range of lifesaving skills, from life support (CPR) to water survival and rescue skills, with more than 160,000 lifesaving awards and qualifications awarded yearly. Programmes include Rookie Lifeguard (for eight to 12 years), National Lifesaving Academy (NLA) (for 12 years+), Save a Baby's Life (a free course aimed at parents and carers of young children) and our suite of First Aid Essentials courses.
RLSS UK awards more pool lifeguard qualifications than any other provider in the UK. Around 40,000 pool lifeguards yearly qualify with our internationally recognised National Pool Lifeguard Qualification (NPLQ). There are currently around 80,000 RLSS UK qualified lifeguards operating around the UK.
On average, RLSS UK lifeguards prevent one likely-in-water accident every six minutes.
Continue reading...
Full Page image
dhewitt@abta.co.uk Tue, 06/24/2025 - 13:55
ABTA is partnering with Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) to raise awareness on how to stay safe in and around the water on holiday, particularly in an environment which is new to customers and their families.
With the summer holidays fast approaching and off the back of RLSS UK’s Drowning Prevention Week (14-21 June), now is a good time to encourage people to think about their safety and confidence in the water before they go away. The water safety charity and ABTA have worked together to produce the Holiday Water Safety Toolkit, to help ABTA members share advice with their customers.
With a number of reported accidental drownings of British people happening overseas this year, it is incredibly important that customers are aware of the potential hazards in the water and how to keep themselves safe.
The advice in the Holiday Water Safety Toolkit is based on RLSS UK’s Water Safety Code and has specific advice for travellers to stay safe when they’re abroad and know what to do in an emergency.
The advice encourages holidaymakers to:
- Be prepared by practising their skills before going away and packing brightly coloured swimwear
- Keep children within arm’s reach and supervise them at all times, even when a lifeguard is present
- Stick together when near the water
- Learn what to do if they get into trouble
ABTA members can access the toolkit by visiting the Marketing Toolkit on the Member Zone at abta.com/marketingtoolkit. The toolkit includes social media graphics, pre-written social media posts and a blog. The toolkit can be used throughout the summer in members’ customer marketing channels.
Graeme Buck, ABTA Director of Communications, said:
“Having fun in the water is at the heart of so many people’s holidays but sadly each year some people do get into difficulty, with some losing their lives in the water.
“Accidents are less likely if people have the right knowledge to enjoy water safely with friends and family.
“This is why we are working with the RLSS UK so that our members can share the charity’s clear and concise advice to help customers and their families have fun in the water safely.”
Charity Director at RLSS UK, Matt Croxall, said:
“Holidays are the perfect time for families to enjoy the water together and with the summer holidays fast approaching, it’s an important time to think about water safety.
“The Water Safety Code is an easy way to start the conversation with your family to ensure a fun and safe holiday.
“This, along with our partnership with ABTA, will allow us to reach as many families as possible with the vital water safety advice in the toolkit ahead of their trips.”
Notes to editors
About ABTA
ABTA is a trade association for UK travel agents, tour operators and the wider travel industry. We’re the largest travel trade body, with over 4,300 travel brands in membership who have a combined annual UK turnover of over £40 billion. We work closely with our members to help raise and maintain standards and build a more sustainable travel industry, and provide travellers with advice, guidance and support.
Our members sign up to a code of conduct and commit to agreed service standards and fair trading. When you need clear travel information, and accurate and impartial advice relating to your trip, we’re here for you. When you book with an ABTA member, reliable advice comes as standard. This means that booking with our members brings peace of mind.
All this together means we help you travel with confidence. www.abta.com
About RLSS UK
For over 130 years, the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) has been sharing its expertise in water safety, lifesaving, and lifeguarding to educate everyone on enjoying water safely.
On average, 328 people accidentally lose their lives to drowning each year in the UK and Ireland, and the RLSS UK aims to prevent drowning through high-quality water safety education.
RLSS UK is the leading provider of lifesaving and lifeguarding training and water safety education in the UK and Ireland.
1,250,000+ children received water safety education using our free, downloadable educational resources during Drowning Prevention Week 2024. RLSS UK's Drowning Prevention Week is the national water safety awareness campaign to reduce the number of accidental drownings that occur each year and support families affected by drowning. The next campaign will run from 14-21 June 2025.
In schools, 8,000+ children completed our class-based Water Smart Schools programme in 2024. Water Smart Schools aims to facilitate access to water safety lessons for children from all communities and backgrounds.
RLSS UK awards and programmes teach a range of lifesaving skills, from life support (CPR) to water survival and rescue skills, with more than 160,000 lifesaving awards and qualifications awarded yearly. Programmes include Rookie Lifeguard (for eight to 12 years), National Lifesaving Academy (NLA) (for 12 years+), Save a Baby's Life (a free course aimed at parents and carers of young children) and our suite of First Aid Essentials courses.
RLSS UK awards more pool lifeguard qualifications than any other provider in the UK. Around 40,000 pool lifeguards yearly qualify with our internationally recognised National Pool Lifeguard Qualification (NPLQ). There are currently around 80,000 RLSS UK qualified lifeguards operating around the UK.
On average, RLSS UK lifeguards prevent one likely-in-water accident every six minutes.
Continue reading...
