The FCO has completed a month-long public consultation on its foreign travel advice system and is now analysing the results from the 1,500 people who took part in the survey.

Joanna Roper, director consular services at the FCO, told the Abta Travel Law Seminar in London that it was thinking of moving towards a four-tier system of advice, which is already used by countries such as France, Australia and the Netherlands.

Currently the FCO uses a three-tier system: green (no advice against travel but read before travelling), amber (advise against all but essential travel) and red (advise against all travel).

Tour operators generally only operate holidays when the FCO advice for a destination is at the green level.

“We are looking at adding a new second level between green and amber, where we would not be advising against all non-essential travel but you need to be even more vigilant because the risk is higher than at home,” explained Roper.

“There would be a distinction where we would be saying that it is generally safe but there are safety and security concerns.”

Roper stressed this would not mean any changes to the criteria used to decide on the overall level of advice.

“It may allow us to lift advice more quickly when the security situation in a country has improved,” she added. “It should also make the difference between green and amber less stark. We want to make our advice clearer for the public.”

Roper said they were still analysing results of the consultation and that any changes were likely to be launched in the autumn. She added the FCO was also discussing potential changes with the insurance industry.

Simon Bunce, Abta’s director of legal affairs, said: “FCO advice is critical to the travel industry. But there is nothing written down to say that when FCO advice changes, something kicks in and customers can get their money back.

“It’s tricky now and it’s tricky to see how this will work. There will be a period of transition until people understand how it is going to fit together in the future.”