Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Safety And Security When Traveling Takes More Than Common Sense Precautions
"While the language barrier and the cultural sites are exciting, they also open up travelers to scam artists and petty thieves," says an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which brings up some good points.
Record serial numbers on electronics, keep valuables in your hotel safe and watch for "long hauling" where taxi drivers take a longer route to bump up the fare. These measures can be taken to ensure a visit to an unfamiliar turf goes well.
We saw this first hand in Rouen, France, not long ago, visiting the Notre-Dame Cathedral off a sailing of Azamara Club Cruises Azamara Journey. Our local guide was quick to point out that we should ignore anyone standing by the front door collection admission. Entry is free but unsuspecting tourists commonly pay scam artists a fee, believing they cannot enter without doing so.
But Americans do not need to travel far to find situations that threaten safety and security.
The U.S. Department of State's Office of American Citizens Services and Crisis Management offers tips for international travel as close as the Bahamas, a destination frequented by U.S. travelers on a weekend getaway. Also a popular cruise port, on the topic of safety and security, the Department of State warns travelers about commonly used services.
"The water sports and scooter rental industries in The Bahamas are not carefully regulated," says the Department of State. "Every year people are killed or injured due to improper, careless, or reckless operation of scooters, jet-skis, and personal watercraft or scuba/snorkeling equipment."
Digging deeper, the Department of State offers information about common crime scams and reports of assaults, including sexual assaults, in diverse areas such as in casinos, outside hotels, or on cruise ships.
"Three separate groups of tourists were held at gunpoint and robbed at popular tourist sites in and near Nassau; each of these incidents occurred during daylight hours and involved groups of more than eight persons," says the Department of State, adding "several other groups of tourists allegedly were victims of armed robbery at more remote locations."
Here at home, traveling no farther than the local mall for holiday shopping can put us in situations where pick pockets, scam artists and others are out to take advantage of distracted shoppers.
Regardless of where we are, a nice day of sightseeing or shopping can turn very bad, very fast as we see in this video:
[Photo credit: Chris Owen]
The U.S. Department of State's Office of American Citizens Services and Crisis Management offers tips for international travel as close as the Bahamas, a destination frequented by U.S. travelers on a weekend getaway. Also a popular cruise port, on the topic of safety and security, the Department of State warns travelers about commonly used services.
"The water sports and scooter rental industries in The Bahamas are not carefully regulated," says the Department of State. "Every year people are killed or injured due to improper, careless, or reckless operation of scooters, jet-skis, and personal watercraft or scuba/snorkeling equipment."
Digging deeper, the Department of State offers information about common crime scams and reports of assaults, including sexual assaults, in diverse areas such as in casinos, outside hotels, or on cruise ships.
"Three separate groups of tourists were held at gunpoint and robbed at popular tourist sites in and near Nassau; each of these incidents occurred during daylight hours and involved groups of more than eight persons," says the Department of State, adding "several other groups of tourists allegedly were victims of armed robbery at more remote locations."
Here at home, traveling no farther than the local mall for holiday shopping can put us in situations where pick pockets, scam artists and others are out to take advantage of distracted shoppers.
Regardless of where we are, a nice day of sightseeing or shopping can turn very bad, very fast as we see in this video:
[Photo credit: Chris Owen]
Filed under: Europe, North America, Bahamas, United States, Travel Health, Cruises, Travel Security
