If you're a traveler, know the difference between advisories, alerts & warnings

Three different categories of notices can come from the United States State Department: an advisory, an alert or a warning. These three are not equal to each other and, unfortunately, so-called “broadcast experts” don’t seem to know that.

Three different categories of notices can come from the United States State Department: an advisory, an alert or a warning. These three are not equal to each other and, unfortunately, so-called “broadcast experts” don’t seem to know that.

I was watching one of the morning television talk shows the other day and was told by one of these experts that an advisory concerning travel to France had been issued by the State Department, “So you’d better not go there.” This would have concerned me if I didn’t know better because my wife and I will be flying home from Paris this coming August.

No, we are not going to change our plans because this TV travel expert, in the words of my oldest son, was “full of it.”

An advisory is a formal statement issued by a governmental or international organization (such the U.S. State Department or the U.N.) simply giving information or sometimes advising caution in traveling to specified destinations. Here’s a quote from the State Department’s website (travel.state.gov): “The State Department’s Office of American Citizens Services and Crisis Management (ACS) administers the Consular Information Program, which informs the public of conditions abroad that may affect their safety and security. Country-specific information, travel alerts, and travel warnings are vital parts of this program.”

An advisory often regards something such as a natural disaster or outbreak of one or more contagious diseases. But it may also be an alert or a warning, which are two different things.

There is an existing advisory concerning the Zika virus involving Brazil, site of this year’s Olympics competition. But then, this virus has also been found in California, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and a number of other states in the U.S.

The State Department website is a valuable resource that allows all travelers to sign up for travel alerts through the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). This program will give you the opportunity to enroll your trip with the nearest U.S. embassy in a foreign country at no cost. Your enrollment allows the U.S. embassy, as well as family and friends, to reach you more easily in case of an emergency. You will also receive information on safety conditions to help you as you plan your trip.

Also on the State Department website you might find a list of countries with the label “alert” or “warning” next to them. What’s the difference and what do they mean?

Travel alerts (formerly called travel public announcements) are generally short term in nature and are issued because of situations such as political unrest, recent violence by terrorists and on anniversary dates of specific terrorist events. They contain information about terrorist threats, political coups, a recent outbreak of crime and other short-term conditions which may pose “significant risks to the security of American travelers,” according to the government website. Travel alerts are milder than travel warnings,

When there is a travel warning, the State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel to a country altogether because of its long term instability or “when the U.S. Government’s ability to assist American citizens is constrained due to the closure of an embassy or consulate or because of a drawdown of its staff.” In winter 2009, travel warnings existed for travel to and/or in Iran, Iraq, Haiti, Nepal, the Philippines, and Israel, the West Bank and Gaza among 22 other countries and areas. Examples of temporary warnings were the travel warning issued during the spring 2008 turmoil in Tibet or the update of an existing Haiti travel warning after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

By the way, there is no current warning about travel to Israel or the West Bank. I have some friends who are tour operators and their barometer for travel to the Holy Land is BYU’s Jerusalem Center. If they shut down and send missionaries home, the trips are cancelled. If the campus is operational, the trip is a “go.”

If, on the other hand, you hear of an organized tour of Syria, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan this year, don’t sign up. Not unless you are in the military, in which case, you probably won’t have any choice in the matter. But then, if you needed the State Department to tell you not to go to those places as a civilian, you have a greater need than to travel.