Holiday misery of 10,000 Britons

Travel warning: Foreign Office advice is criticised as rates of murder, kidnapping and robbery of travellers soar

An estimated 10,000 Britons got into serious trouble abroad last year, according to a new report – a 50 per cent rise in just five years.

The study, published tomorrow, shows 43 Britons were murdered – up by a quarter on the previous year – while assaults rose from 120 to 219. Kidnappings are also put at a record level, with 32 British travellers abducted.

Requests for emergency passports have increased by a quarter since 1995, and the number of Britons detained overseas has risen by more than 50 per cent. In June last year there were 3,297 British nationals in foreign jails.

The report blames the increase in part on the Foreign Office's failure to warn British travellers of the dangers they can face, and it criticises the FO's inability to compile more comprehensive statistics.

The report is all the more embarrassing for ministers because it is produced by the Foreign Policy Centre – a think-tank whose patron is Tony Blair and whose president is Robin Cook, the former Foreign Secretary.

Rachel Briggs, the author of the report, said: "If information was more overtly available, it might be easier to assess relative risks and compare one holiday to another. But Foreign Office records offer no breakdown by country – only sketchy details from past case studies."

Ms Briggs said more insurance companies and tour operators should alert customers to the Foreign Office website, currently read by only 10 per cent of British travellers.

The report – Travel Advice: Getting Information to Those Who Need It – looks at the risks for different types of travellers, such as businessmen, aid workers and package tourists. In all, Britons make 60 million trips abroad a year.

Package tourists travel to low-risk countries, such as the US and Europe, but they account for most of the incidents in the report. These include rapes, assaults, homicides and accidental deaths by, for example, falling off balconies. Hooliganism is also a problem on cheap holidays.

Despite the risks, a poll by the Foreign Policy Centre shows that a fifth of tourists do not bother with insurance and 10 per cent were able to recall a dangerous incident on their last trip abroad. Half believed British consulates could get them out of foreign prisons, and 20 per cent assumed they would get better treatment in foreign hospitals than that given to locals.

The report suggests that holidaymakers who are met by reps tend to see advice and information as a "damper" and prefer to "gamble" with chances of a problem arising.

The rising popularity of adventure tourism has contributed to the rise in Britons getting into trouble overseas. More people than ever are going to "high-risk" places, with a reported increase in travel to the Middle East and Africa over the past five years. Package trips to Afghanistan are due to start soon. Last year 65 per cent of robberies, 90 per cent of terrorist action and all abductions were carried out in such countries.

The report states: "While the number of business trips is rising, the length of each trip is falling. There is a danger that travellers will mistake shorter trips for lower risks."

Brenda Wall, the founder of Holiday Travelwatch, an independent consumer watchdog, said: "There are a lot of tour companies who don't take the health, safety and security of their customers seriously enough. There are far too many people coming back from holiday ill or injured."

We received no help out there at all. Nobody turned up and nobody cared

Ryan Pearson was five years old when he drowned in a hotel pool on a package holiday in Lanzarote

Ryan died just minutes after arriving in Lanzarote. Two years on, his family have received no compensation and are taking the case to court.

Ryan's mother, Olivia Pearson, 29, from Dungannon in Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland, is still furious at the way they were treated.

"We had no help out there," said Ms Pearson. "Nobody turned up and nobody cared at all. The reps, all teenagers, just froze. They had no idea which protocols to follow.

"I was told I couldn't travel in the ambulance with my son and wasn't allowed to contact the consulate. We weren't given access to a phone – we weren't offered a cup of tea.

"I was never officially told that my son had died. When I got to see Ryan's body, in the chapel of rest, the mortician had left his chest wide open. That is an image that will have to stay with me for the rest of my life.

"Tour operators are just closing their eyes. To them, a death's a death and tomorrow's a new day. How many people have to be injured or worse before they realise something has to be done?"

A spokeswoman for Thomson, the tour operator, said she could not comment on the case for legal reasons, but added: "Thomson has been in regular contact with the family. We are deeply saddened by the tragic circumstances of Ryan's death and are trying to reduce the risk of similar accidents."

I was abducted and held hostage for seven months

Philip Halden was kidnapped in Colombia while working for a multinational firm

Mr Halden, an engineering executive, was abducted during a three-month business trip in February 1996. He was taken hostage by the ELN – a guerrilla group – which ambushed his car during a weekend trip.

He had been concerned about safety on the trip and had raised the subject with his boss, but it was not discussed formally.

Mr Halden, 54, believes he is lucky to have survived. "I endured hell for seven-and-a-half months. I survived serious illness and solitary confinement by living off my wits."

Despite an increase in information since his kidnapping, the number of abductions of British businessmen has almost doubled.

Philip now lives in the US and believes American employers offer better support. "If it expects its staff to travel to dangerous countries, any British employer must ensure training is provided."