Office of the Spokesperson
On October 24, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs announced several important updates to our Safety and Security Messaging for U.S. citizen travelers. The Department has added a new section on tourism safety to all country information pages on travel.state.gov in order to provide more detailed information about each country’s tourism infrastructure and its ability to provide emergency services to foreign visitors. Additionally, the Department has launched a new adventure travel information page on our travel.state.gov website, along with an adventure travel-themed public outreach campaign on social media. The Department of State and our U.S. embassies and consulates abroad work closely with foreign governments and tourist industry officials to review existing tourism safety conditions and advocate for the safety and welfare of U.S. citizen travelers.
As more U.S. citizens travel abroad each year and engage in new, and sometimes riskier, forms of tourism, the Department of State is committed to providing clear, timely, and reliable information to help U.S. citizen travelers make informed decisions and travel safely. We work closely with U.S. and international partners to address leading risks, including road accidents and drowning, which continue to be common causes of serious injury and death for U.S. citizen travelers abroad, especially for those engaging in adventure travel activities. These new resources complement the wide range of existing resources for U.S. citizen travelers – which include Travel Advisories with standardized levels of travel advice for every destination country around the world, and tailored information for many types of travelers, from cruise ship passengers to students to travelers with disabilities. Visit travel.state.gov for more information.
We also encourage U.S. citizens traveling overseas to enroll their travel plans in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP.state.gov) so they can receive important messages about their destination(s), including timely Alerts and updates to our Travel Advisories.
The U.S. Department of State has no greater responsibility than the safety and welfare of U.S. citizens overseas. We will continue to update our public information as part of our ongoing commitment to serve U.S. citizens as they travel abroad.
For press inquiries, please contact CAPRESSREQUESTS@state.gov.