Government Travel Advisories and Travel Insurance

Most seasoned travellers are aware that it is wise to check the current situation in their destination country before booking any trips. Once plans are in place it is a good idea to purchase travel insurance – with immediate effect so that it includes protection for Cancellation and Curtailment.

Travel plans may be affected by weather events such as hurricanes, earthquakes, heavy snow, flooding, and tropical storms. Other travel problems include disease outbreaks or pandemics, volcanic eruptions, political unrest, civil war and terrorist attacks. Information of this type is normally easily picked up through the media via newspapers, television, radio, and the internet.

The internet is, without question, the most useful tool available to travellers in today’s world as it is so quick and easy to do a search for your destination country, resort, and hotel and find any relevant and updated information. Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook have also made it much easier to communicate information – good and bad. Hotel review sites tend to be controversial but many travellers still rely on them before booking their hotel or accommodation.

To find the very latest travel updates and to check whether any advisories against travel are in effect, it is wise to check the government website of your country of residence. This is a good habit to get into and it should be at the top of your travel checklist along with checking your passport expiration, visa requirements, taking out travel insurance, and checking with your doctor regarding any needed vaccinations..

Before planning any travel or holidays visit the Department of Foreign Affairs, or similar government agency for your country, to check if there are any potential problems brewing in your destination country. For example:

Australia: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (smartraveller.gov.au)
Canada: Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (voyage.gc.ca)
Ireland (Eire): Department of Foreign Affairs (dfa.ie)
New Zealand: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (safetravel.govt.nz)
UK: Foreign and Commonwealth Office (fco.gov.uk)
USA: Department of State (travel.state.gov)
In the case of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, they provide extensive and updated travel advice and information on their website as part of their ”Know Before You Go’ campaign, which is aimed to assist travellers and help them avoid inadvertently getting into trouble overseas. The wealth of important information includes local laws and customs, visa and passport requirements, driving advice, the political situation, transportation advice, street crime and scams to watch for, emergency contact information, healthcare, travel insurance, and much more.

As an example, let’s imagine that you decide to treat your family to a sunshine holiday at a Red Sea resort in Egypt. You find a great package deal and go ahead and book. You check the family passports to make sure they have not expired, book the airport long-stay parking and purchase travel insurance. You arrive at your destination and the next day discover that there are protests and demonstrations in the streets of Cairo – and they are turning violent. You discover that your home country’s government has issued an advisory for its citizens against all non-essential travel to Egypt. You are worried and wonder if this will affect you – or your travel insurance. Fortunately, because the trouble did not occur until after you had booked the holiday you could not have reasonably foreseen the problem and your insurance should still cover any valid claims.

The difference is that If you book a trip to a trouble spot after a serious problem has arisen and it has been covered in the media most insurers will view this as having taken an unnecessary risk because it is reasonable to assume that you should have been aware.

Travel Insurance policies vary in their terms and conditions and what is and is not included. Play it safe and, at a minimum, always check to make sure that the policy covers all your planned activities, has adequate medical insurance, and includes medical repatriation. A cheap policy may be perfectly adequate for your needs but sometimes it is worth paying a little extra – just in case.

Executive Protection – Politics of Travel Advisories

Recently Israel’s Office on Counter Terrorism canceled the travel advisory for India under which Israelis were recommended to avoid popular tourist spots and not to congregate at Chabad houses. The travel advisory came after reports of terrorist groups were planning “spectacular violence” in Goa, which was a prime target due to the large presence of tourists from Israel and the United States.

Later the Israel’s Counter-terrorism Bureau issued another travel advisory regarding India, saying that the threat against Israelis was “concrete” and recommended that Israelis refrain from congregating in synagogues, Chabad centers and other popular tourist spots.

Now is the time not to let down your guard when visiting India on executive protection (EP) assignments. There is a well known term known as the politics of travel advisories. This means when a country issues a travel advisory another the other, the country that has the travel advisory against it, losses millions of dollars each month due to canceled hotel, convention, tourist and foreign business bookings. As a political gesture the country after a period of months retracts the advisory and business and terrorism go back as usual.

These steps provides straightforward methods to guard against terrorism. Watch for unusual surveillance of your EP team and your hotel. Keep aware of unattended vehicles suspiciously parked near your hotel or country headquarters. Look out for unauthorized persons loitering in or near your hotel or other suspicious activities. Observe and avoid all unsecure areas of the city. Report all suspicious or unusual activity to the local law enforcement authorities. Do not approach or challenge any person acting in a suspicious manner he may be a suicide bomber or other type of armed radical. Keep safe and God speed.

Doc Rogers is the author of the new book entitled: Corporate E

Biased and Hurried Travel Advisories

The Mumbai attacks of last November were still going on when a number of western governments started issuing adverse travel advisories asking their nationals to cancel all plans of visiting India without even the actual details being fully known.

This ad hoc and knee jerk reaction of western countries in regard to travel to India and some other countries in this area is not a new thing. This has been happening all along and shows a typical bias and prejudice which these people hold against us. The US Government website states, “The Department of State warns U.S. citizens that there is a high threat of terrorism throughout India, and advises U.S. citizens travelling to or already in India to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness, especially during the end-of-year holidays until India’s Republic Day, January 26″.

They have put the entire India as a terrorist threatened destination. No sane person would have the courage to travel to India after reading such a discouraging advice. The British have gone a step ahead and their website states, “There is a high threat from terrorism throughout India.

Future attacks may target places frequented by Western visitors and expatriates. Security levels have been increased at major airports. Travellers should therefore expect delays and allow more time when checking in. British nationals should exercise particular caution when in the vicinity of key government installations and tourist sites, attending public events (including religious and sporting events), and in public places including hotels, airports, shopping malls, markets and on public transport”.

Then they give a virtual history of terrorist incidents in different parts of the country. In case of Jammu & Kashmir, special treatment has been given. The Travel Advice in the very beginning says, “We advise against all travel to or through rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir (other than Ladakh), and all but essential travel to Srinagar. If you intend to travel to Srinagar then you should only travel there by air.

Despite the best efforts of travel agents who will try to convince you that it is safe to travel to this region, increased official promotion of Kashmir as a tourist centre and improved relations between India and Pakistan, tensions remain high, particularly in Kashmir. There was widespread violence across rural and urban areas of Jammu and Kashmir in the months of July and August 2008. Curfew restrictions imposed in the Jammu region at the time have been lifted and conditions are returning to normal.

There remains, however, a heightened risk of further volatile and unpredictable violence in Kashmir, including car bombs, grenade attacks, bombs on roads and shootings”. The Australian Government has straight away told its citizens to reconsider all travel to India. Their website carries the advice as, “We advise you to reconsider your need to travel to India at this time because of the very high risk of terrorist activity by terrorists and militant groups. If you do decide to travel to India, you should exercise extreme caution.”

In case of Kashmir they simply ask their nationals not to travel at all! “We advise you not to travel to the state of Jammu and Kashmir (north India), other than to the Ladakh region via Manali, or by air to the regions main city of Leh, due to frequent armed clashes, terrorist activities and violent demonstrations. There is an ongoing dispute between India and neighbouring Pakistan regarding Jammu and Kashmir. Serious security problems remain in Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir, as well as other parts of the state. Recent civil unrest and violent demonstrations in the state of Jammu and Kashmir have resulted in the deaths of dozens of people since June 2008, with the cities of Srinagar and Jammu the worst affected. Tensions remain high with the possibility of violence spreading to surrounding areas.”

These sample advisories taken from the internet show how our destinations are being projected as terrorism prone spots. In view of these advisories it is difficult for group tourism to move to these places. No insurance company will cover any travel to these areas. Bulk of tourist traffic these days is group travel. As regards getting these advisories modified or removed, it is a difficult proposition. I have a personal experience in this regard with the British Foreign Office. During early 1998 I was visiting London and the then Indian High Commissioner there Mr. Salman Haider arranged my meeting with the India Desk Officer in the British Foreign Office.

I explained to them that the situation was very conducive for tourists to visit Kashmir. They agreed with me but expressed helplessness in view of the 5 missing foreigners who had been kidnapped in Kashmir. According to them unless their death was certified, they could not proceed in the matter. After following the case with the State Home Department, a death certificate was issued on the basis of the report provided by the concerned Police authorities. This certificate was sent to the British Foreign Office.

In spite of this they did not modify the travel advice. In fact, earlier advice had been stating that the Indian Travel Agents should not be believed even if they say situation is suitable for travel. This sentence has been omitted and modified in the present advice probably after some protest from the Indian Travel Agents Association.

In this situation, it is no use trying to get western tourists to Kashmir in large numbers. Promotional efforts in western countries would be waste of time and money. It would be better for us to concentrate on alternate markets. There have never been any adverse travel advisories from any of the South East Asian, Middle Eastern, or Central Asian Countries regarding travel to India in general and to Kashmir in particular. During all the years of turmoil, Kashmir has received a regular stream of visitors from Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.

In fact, during last couple of years up market Malaysian tourists have been coming to Kashmir in appreciable numbers. For all these three regions of South East Asia, Central Asia, and Middle East Kashmir represents a short haul destination. With the airport at Srinagar getting operational soon for International flights, it would be worthwhile to concentrate on these regions and try for direct charter flights as is being done by Goa Tourism Department. They receive over 500 charters every season from different tourism generating markets.

There is need for promoting Kashmir vigorously in these short haul markets. The State Tourism Department should sponsor two way FAM Tours from and to these places. Every important Travel Mart should be attended by the industry players from Jammu & Kashmir. In fact, in 2004, the then Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayed had announced through a press conference in Dubai that the State Government would set up a Travel and Trade Bureau there to vigorously promote Tourism and Trade from the Region.

However, after his handing over the power, the new rulers completely forgot the commitment. There is need to revive it especially if the proposed Srinagar-Dubai direct flight starts to operate. With the success of these flights and dispersal to other regions, similar set ups can be established in Singapore and Tashkent. These will cover all the three potential markets for both tourism and trade. If we are able to put this type of Tourism Marketing Plan in action, we will have no need to bother about the Western Travel Advisories and that would be the most appropriate strategy to counter these.

Mohammad Ashraf

Travel Advisory to Kenya

The Kenya Travel Advisory helps to alert all visitors to Kenya on the event of any security risk that may happen in the country. This ensures that all foreigners are aware of what to do in the event of any security threat and be advised accordingly. Many visitors mainly NGO’s some doing their own research tend to visit deep in the slums without any accompaniment. This according to the Kenya Travel Advisory is risky in the event that any riot or anything risky occurring the way out to a safer place will be highly unlikely since trying to figure out the way out is also highly risky.

The Kenya Travel Advisory further tells foreigners to register with any breaking news service that will alert them on their website, as this will enable the Embassy to get in touch with them in any case of a security alert.

It also advises Canadian and American citizens that are in Kenya to call 1-888-407-4747 toll-free so that they may receive up to date information on the security situation in Kenya at any time.

The different Travel Kenya Advisories from various countries also want tourists to Kenya to keep in touch with their embassies form time to time.

At the moment there is no security alert that has been reported because the country tends to be calm and no issues of people fighting is on. Kenyans are very peaceful people.

It only happened once after the 2007 general elections and I do not think the violence can happen again since the constitution and reforms are underway.

Know the security alert here Travel Kenya Advisory [http://travelkenyaguide.info/kenya-trav

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