It won’t be long before summer arrives, and as always, this means that a lot of Nordic travellers go on holiday both in their home country, but especially also across national borders.
With both the Olympics in Paris, the European Championship in men’s football in Germany and the Tour de France in France as well as Italy, this summer offers a cornucopia of sports experiences. However, it will also create pressure on European cities and holiday destinations when the journeys of millions of sports enthusiasts are added to the peak tourist travel season.
SOS International’s alarm centre for travel assistance is ready
Especially in Western Europe, travellers must prepare for the fact that there will be a lot of people going from A to B. At the same time, there is an extraordinarily strong focus on safety with so many sporting events coinciding.
Executive Vice President for Travelcare at SOS International, Karin Tranberg, has the overall responsibility for ensuring that the summer will run smoothly at the assistance company. And she assures that SOS International is ready:
– We can see that holiday travel is finally back at the same level as before Corona, and with an unparalleled sports summer, we at SOS International are prepared for the fact that we will be busy. We have called in extra summer personnel, who are trained and ready to help our permanent assistance coordinators with the big task.
Prior to the summer, SOS International has been in continuous dialogue with its network of partners in Europe to ensure that travellers can receive medical treatment and other travel assistance, even though the summer will be extraordinarily busy.
– Major sporting events such as the Olympics and European Championships naturally put pressure on capacity. Therefore, we have prepared thoroughly and made sure that our solid network of clinics and hospitals is equipped for the challenge, says Karin Tranberg.
At the same time, SOS International is focusing on managing the increased pressure through digitalisation wherever possible. This applies specifically to the less critical cases, where it can ensure continued fast case processing for the insured during an extra busy time, while at the same time giving SOS International’s assistance coordinators even better opportunity to focus on the heavy and complex cases where the patients really need the personal and professional help. for which SOS International is known.
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Strikes are the wild card
Staff at several European train and airline companies, as well as at some European airports, have been on strike in recent years. This year is no exception, and in April, air traffic controllers at some of France’s largest airports went on strike due to a breakdown in wage negotiations.
It is difficult to predict in advance whether there will be strikes over the summer, how big they will be and where they will hit. However, with several ongoing wage negotiations, SOS International is preparing for the possibility of walkouts – even at short notice.
– Overall, we therefore expect a very busy summer with several unknowns, concludes Karin Tranberg. But we are well prepared and ready to help travelers 24 hours a day, no matter where in the world they need it.