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Government travel advisory sites
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Do you register with them if your government offers a traveller contact database?
B Posts: 739
Here in Australia we have smartraveller.gov which is a government site that shows you travel warnings (Which I of course ignore) but also has a registry so you can post where you will be and on what dates. You can update as you go along if you are on a long term less structured trip.
I registered this time as I had mum with me. Had to say I was impressed to find an email from the Jakarta consulate asking us to confirm we were ok and did not require assistance less than ten minutes after the second quake.
I believe smartraveller and other sites where you register your movements increased in user popularity after the bali bombings and the boxing day tsunami when there were so many people unaccounted for and tracking them down proved very difficult.
Anyone else ever use these type of registries? Reply to this
I registered this time as I had mum with me. Had to say I was impressed to find an email from the Jakarta consulate asking us to confirm we were ok and did not require assistance less than ten minutes after the second quake.
I believe smartraveller and other sites where you register your movements increased in user popularity after the bali bombings and the boxing day tsunami when there were so many people unaccounted for and tracking them down proved very difficult.
Anyone else ever use these type of registries? Reply to this
B Posts: 1,545
Cindy, I was in Cairo 5 days after Mubarak went down last year...do you really think any governement would have lift the advise...same thing back in 1997 in Cambodia a week after the coup...these are some of the best and safest experiences of my life...not to speak about diving Similans and Maldives just after the Tsunami in 2006... Reply to this
B Posts: 739
Ha Pierre we are the same. When smart traveller warned do not travel during the redshirt riots I found thailand to be an excellent time to travel as the tourists had heeded the warning and were staying away - hence much more freedom for me and cheaper prices as the tourist mass market was missing.
I do not for a moment take their advice on when or where to travel but I did find it interesting on how quick they were to respond after the quakes to see if we needed any assistance.
I can not see myself ever not travelling when they issue a Do NOT travel warning, i think i know what i am doing well enough myself, but the database of tracking Australian citizens overseas if there is a quake/bombing/tsunami/flood/military coup seems to be a good system.
After the bali bombings where many young australians died the major problem seemed to be no one knowing who was where and phone lines to hotels jamming - When checking into Bunaken I was asked to fill out a form with my contact details etc in case of an emergency situation such as this so the resort could provide details of which citizens from which countries were there.
I shall keep travelling regardless of warnings, but may register where I will be in future ....... just in case. Apparently those travellers registered are given some form of priority evacuation if a worst case scenario occurs. Not too sure on the legalities of this but I guess them knowing where you are is a way to be a priority in the first place. Reply to this
I do not for a moment take their advice on when or where to travel but I did find it interesting on how quick they were to respond after the quakes to see if we needed any assistance.
I can not see myself ever not travelling when they issue a Do NOT travel warning, i think i know what i am doing well enough myself, but the database of tracking Australian citizens overseas if there is a quake/bombing/tsunami/flood/military coup seems to be a good system.
After the bali bombings where many young australians died the major problem seemed to be no one knowing who was where and phone lines to hotels jamming - When checking into Bunaken I was asked to fill out a form with my contact details etc in case of an emergency situation such as this so the resort could provide details of which citizens from which countries were there.
I shall keep travelling regardless of warnings, but may register where I will be in future ....... just in case. Apparently those travellers registered are given some form of priority evacuation if a worst case scenario occurs. Not too sure on the legalities of this but I guess them knowing where you are is a way to be a priority in the first place. Reply to this
B Posts: 8,349
The New Zealand equivalent is safetravel.govt.nz.
I register travel details here, other than when travelling to Australia. Registration details also allow you to indicate dual citizenship, which I have, but I haven't registered with the second site as 99% of my travel is on the Kiwi passport.
Reply to this
I register travel details here, other than when travelling to Australia. Registration details also allow you to indicate dual citizenship, which I have, but I haven't registered with the second site as 99% of my travel is on the Kiwi passport.
Reply to this
B Posts: 781
We register with the U.S version through the state department: step.state.gov
It's the same program as registering with the embassy, although now online and renamed the "Smart Traveler Enrollment Program." I don't see the harm, and if American citizens were being evacuated in an area I was in, I'd want someone to know I was there.
It's the same program as registering with the embassy, although now online and renamed the "Smart Traveler Enrollment Program." I don't see the harm, and if American citizens were being evacuated in an area I was in, I'd want someone to know I was there.
[Edited: 2012 Apr 26 22:02 - Stephanie and Andras:35953 ]
Reply to this
B Posts: 5,610
I have not registered my travel itinerary with Smartraveller, but I do believe it is a good idea. I think it would also be helpful in countries where you are not aware of something occurring - for example a coup in the capital city and you are somewhere else in the country.
Smartraveller has four levels:
Exercise normal safety precautions
Exercise a high degree of caution
Reconsider your need to travel
Do not travel
Basically, I treat all caution warnings with caution. I usually ignore all warnings with the Reconsider option, but heed more (but not always) the Do Not Travel notices. What influences me more is information on the Kidnapping threat worldwide page.
However, even then, some areas of each country are worse than others, so it is still possible to travel to a country with a kidnap warning, but not visit any area where kidnappings occur - a good example being to avoid the north-eastern portions of Kenya, yet other parts are much safer. Reply to this
Smartraveller has four levels:
Exercise normal safety precautions
Exercise a high degree of caution
Reconsider your need to travel
Do not travel
Basically, I treat all caution warnings with caution. I usually ignore all warnings with the Reconsider option, but heed more (but not always) the Do Not Travel notices. What influences me more is information on the Kidnapping threat worldwide page.
However, even then, some areas of each country are worse than others, so it is still possible to travel to a country with a kidnap warning, but not visit any area where kidnappings occur - a good example being to avoid the north-eastern portions of Kenya, yet other parts are much safer. Reply to this
B Posts: 200
I always make sure I have registered with our Canadian version www.voyage.gc.ca/register --- I'd rather by on the safe side than the sorry side.
Occasionally I'll get an earful from those Orwell-paranoid-pot-smoking individuals --but noted, most of them rarely leave the comforts of their own couch....so whatever. Reply to this
Occasionally I'll get an earful from those Orwell-paranoid-pot-smoking individuals --but noted, most of them rarely leave the comforts of their own couch....so whatever. Reply to this
B Posts: 274
We receive the smarttraveller warnings from the Australian site but rarely do we actually take heed of them. I am not really into political situations in other countries so i figure it certainly doesnt hurt me to know now to go into their downtown area or decide to visit a certain city on a certain day. We got caught in San Sebastian one time when some riots were happenning and wasted a day hiding in a cafe where we could have so easily have gone somewhere else if we had any idea at all :)
I think we've registered with it twice when we've gone to more off the beaten track locations, but havent with the standard bali or thailand trips we've been doing recently. In saying that, the examples youve given of bali bombings and tsunami are exactly the locations we visit often so probably 'rural' vs 'tourist' destination is not the best way for me to be making this decision lol! Reply to this
I think we've registered with it twice when we've gone to more off the beaten track locations, but havent with the standard bali or thailand trips we've been doing recently. In saying that, the examples youve given of bali bombings and tsunami are exactly the locations we visit often so probably 'rural' vs 'tourist' destination is not the best way for me to be making this decision lol! Reply to this
B Posts: 5,056
We have not registered in the past but think it is a good idea and will register before we take off in August. As Stephanie pointed out it is a good idea for someone to look for you if something unexpected happens.
Reply to this
Reply to this
B Posts: 781
Because we're discussing two things now - government registers and government travel advisories - I want to chime in that using one doesn't mean you have to follow the other. To my knowledge, if I wanted to travel to - say - Cote D'Ivoire, despite the US State Dept warning not to, I could. And in fact, I'd be even more encouraged to register.
As for regarding the warnings, I always consider why the warning was implemented. The US has travel warnings as either: there is one, or there isn't one. There are acute disturbances in localized areas which may not affect travel to the country as a whole or generalized warnings like the H1N1 outbreak in Mexico. I feel free to dismiss these as I see fit. There are also disturbances which would make it difficult or dangerous for me to enter a country with my passport, or when I'd more likely be detained should I try to leave. I tend to heed these more direct political warnings, particularly when embassies or any symbol of nationality is being targeted. Reply to this
As for regarding the warnings, I always consider why the warning was implemented. The US has travel warnings as either: there is one, or there isn't one. There are acute disturbances in localized areas which may not affect travel to the country as a whole or generalized warnings like the H1N1 outbreak in Mexico. I feel free to dismiss these as I see fit. There are also disturbances which would make it difficult or dangerous for me to enter a country with my passport, or when I'd more likely be detained should I try to leave. I tend to heed these more direct political warnings, particularly when embassies or any symbol of nationality is being targeted. Reply to this
B Posts: 27
For some reason this year, we were only able to put down one country on the Australian site, which is fine for the first five months as we have been in Georgia and only doing smaller trips out. However we are soon off to Egypt, Israel and Southern Africa so not sure what we will do then...
Its also interesting that some countries seem to be alot more strict in their warnings then others...The Australian site for instance is telling us not to travel to Egypt, so we decided to ask our tour company (Brittish) what they thought about that. They preceded to tell us that the Brittish warning is alot lower and as they are closer to Egypt and deal with them more often it is probably safe to just follow the Brits, Australians being so out of the loop and all... Reply to this
Its also interesting that some countries seem to be alot more strict in their warnings then others...The Australian site for instance is telling us not to travel to Egypt, so we decided to ask our tour company (Brittish) what they thought about that. They preceded to tell us that the Brittish warning is alot lower and as they are closer to Egypt and deal with them more often it is probably safe to just follow the Brits, Australians being so out of the loop and all... Reply to this
B Posts: 781
Hm... and the US doesn't even have a travel warning issued for Egypt - merely a travel "alert" asking citizens to be cognizant of the upcoming elections there.
Re: putting only one country down, could you not just re-register when you travel onward and treat it as a separate itinerary each time? Reply to this
Re: putting only one country down, could you not just re-register when you travel onward and treat it as a separate itinerary each time? Reply to this
B Posts: 5,610
In response to: Msg #155610
Good point, I never just rely on the Australian travel warnings. The UK has the advantage of telling the reader (in many cases) of how many citizens required consular assistance and how many citizens travelled to a country. Thus, these numbers give a more accurate reading of the situation by saying that out of 100,000 UK visitors, 25 assaults were reported to the Embassy; much preferable to just saying "violent crime does occur".
I also read the New Zealand government's travel advisories, I think their observations are more measured than their Australian counterparts who can be more alarmist. Reply to this
Good point, I never just rely on the Australian travel warnings. The UK has the advantage of telling the reader (in many cases) of how many citizens required consular assistance and how many citizens travelled to a country. Thus, these numbers give a more accurate reading of the situation by saying that out of 100,000 UK visitors, 25 assaults were reported to the Embassy; much preferable to just saying "violent crime does occur".
I also read the New Zealand government's travel advisories, I think their observations are more measured than their Australian counterparts who can be more alarmist. Reply to this
