Foreign Office warns skiers to take out winter sports insurance

A major safety awareness campaign by the Foreign Office to tackle alcohol misuse in ski resorts and emphasise the need for winter sports travel insurance cover will come into full swing in December when the first British skiers will be heading for the slopes.

When they arrive in resorts in France, Switzerland and Italy, skiers and snowboarders will see posters in airports, bars, shops and restaurants warning them of the perils of drinking alcohol at high altitude.

The Foreign Office (www.fco.gov.uk) campaign is being supported by a handful of British ski tour operators including Crystal Ski (www.crystalski.co.uk), Thomson Ski (www.thomsonski.co.uk) and First Choice (www.firstchoice-ski.co.uk) as well as student travel specialists Off the Piste (www.offthepiste.com) and Ski Alpine (www.ski-alpine.co.uk).

They will be reminding clients of the need to take out comprehensive winter sports travel insurance as soon as they book their trip - though skiers and boarders don't need to buy their tour operator's travel insurance.

Anyone planning a trip to the slopes this winter is best advised to shop around for the best winter sports travel insurance as they will almost certainly find online brokers are cheaper than their tour operator's or travel agent's travel insurance.

Several tourist offices and airports and the French police and rescue services are supporting the Foreign Office campaign, which will start in the Haute Savoie, Savoie, Isere and Rhone regions of France and in several Swiss ski resorts.

Ski resorts in the Italian province of Turin will join the campaign during the season.

The campaign was launched after several accidents in ski resorts which were directly related to alcohol abuse by young people.

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