From: 76702.1202@CompuServe.COM (Charlie Smith)
Newsgroups: rec.travel
Subject: *NEW* TRAVEL ADVISORY -- New Info System
Date: 8 Oct 1992 11:28:11 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

STATE DEPARTMENT TRAVEL ADVISORY - New Travel Info System
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Assistant Secretary/Spokesman

For Immediate Release

October 7, 1992

TRAVEL ADVISORY PROGRAM

The State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs is today 
announcing a major revision to its travel advisory program.  The new 
program is being designed to expand the type of information 
distributed to U.S. citizens traveling and residing abroad and to 
make it more understandable.  The revised program will be simpler 
and we hope more useful to the public.

The new system changes the three general categories of Travel 
Advisories --Warnings, Cautions, and Notices -- to two: Travel 
Warnings and Consular Information Sheets.  Warnings will be issued 
when the Department decides, based on addressing all relevant 
information, to recommend that Americans avoid travel to a certain 
country.  Information that is now in Cautions, which alerts 
travelers to potential security or health risks, and Travel Notices, 
which notify Americans about inconvenient or difficult situations, 
will be incorporated into newly created Consular Information Sheets. 
 Countries where avoidance of travel is recommended will have Travel 
Warnings as well as Consular Information Sheets .

The Department plans to make Consular Information Sheets available 
for every country of the world.  They will include such information 
as location of the U.S. embassy or consulate in the subject country, 
unusual immigration practices, health conditions, minor political 
disturbances, unusual currency and entry regulations, crime and 
security information, and drug penalties.  If an unstable condition 
exists in a country that is not severe enough to warrant a Warning, 
a description of the condition(s) may be included under an optional 
section entitled "Areas of Instability."  On limited occasions, we 
will also restate in this section any Embassy advice given to 
official employees.

The Department of State believes this expanded program will better 
serve the American public since it will cover all countries around 
the world.  In addition, we have found that, under the three-tier 
system, Warnings, Cautions, and Notices tend to be given the same 
weight by the traveling public, with no differentiation between the 
three levels of advisories.  The revised system will make it easier 
for the public to determine which countries pose the greatest risk 
to travelers.

A major advantage of the Consular Information Sheets is that they 
will incorporate data on crime for all countries.  The Consular 
Information Sheets generally will not include advice, but will 
present information in a factual manner so the traveler can make his 
or her own decisions concerning travel to a particular country.

Both Travel Warnings and the new Consular Information Sheets will 
be made available to the public through the Citizens Emergency 
Center's automated answering system on (202) 647-5225.  The 
information will also be available at U.S. passport agencies, at 
embassies and consulates around the world, through travel agents' 
computer reservation systems, and through a number of electronic 
bulletin board services, including the Consular Affairs Bulletin 
Board on (202) 647-9225.  The Warnings and Consular Information 
Sheets will also be provided to major media outlets for 
dissemination to the general public.

Consular Affairs is now working on the worldwide Consular 
Information Sheets.  The sheets will be phased in by region.  
Additionally, any new information issued about a country will be 
done in the new format.  We expect to review the Consular 
Information Sheets and Travel Warnings in general every six months 
or when conditions warrant.  We anticipate the new program will be 
completely in place by the end of the year.

Newsgroups: rec.travel