Gap years are safe, says travel firm

Students and graduates have been reassured that gap-year trips are made as safe as possible by travel companies.

Rachel Collinson, the Head of Sales and Marketing at Raleigh International, told Channel 4's News at Noon that established tour operators - of which there are many - make every effort to assess and manage risk.

Ms Collinson's comments follow news earlier this week that five British women were killed in a road-traffic accident while on a gap year in Ecuador.

She described the incident as 'tragic' and 'very, very rare.'

'With travelling there is always an element of risk, but the key thing is young people are aware of this risk, and that also the operators in the industry manage that risk through establishing risk-assessment procedures and crisis-management plans,' she told the programme.

Ms Collinson urged gap-year travellers to ensure they are aware of the health concerns involved in a long trip abroad, as well as having adequate insurance.

The British survivors of the Ecuador bus crash are now heading back to the UK.