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Come on Back
Err Travel · May 16, 2000

There's nothing like marauding bandits to get governments to tout how safe traveling in their counties really is.

Last year, in response to attacks on foreign visitors, the Mexican Ministry of Tourism set up the Mexico Visitors News and Safety Channel. While I am generally suspicious of travel sites that have obvious ties to the interests of the destinations they evaluate, this site does a respectable of job of providing some good supplementary information for otherwise well informed travelers.

Once you get past the commentary about how things aren't really that bad in Mexico, particularly in Mexico City - except that they really are - you can find listings of telephone numbers to use to call for taxis and information on how to select a legitimate cab.

Now other countries are stepping up to address the problem of having their foreign guests becoming victims of their home-grown bad boys. The most recent recruit is Kenya.

With travel dollars, francs, lira, marks, pounds, and pesetas bypassing Kenya on their way to South Africa, Seychelles, and Mauritius, the Kenya Tourist Federation has opened a 'round-the-clock communication center for tour operators and other travel industry users. The center will monitor the 37 radio frequencies allocated to tour companies as well as functioning as a clearinghouse of criminal incidents affecting tourists. (As of this writing, there is no designated Web site for the Kenya Tourist Federation, though the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife does have a miniscule Web presence.)

At this point it's not clear how the gathered information will be made available to the public at large, if at all. I hope we'll be able to access the information directly rather than receiving it after it is filtered through a tour agency. There is an obvious shortcoming in relying on tour operators to disseminate timely crime information to their current and potential customers. I'll keep you posted.

As governments and travel companies and industry organizations become more willing to confront the problem of crime and share the data, I expect to see more Web sites available to help us become safer travelers.

In the meantime, don't forget to use the information available to all of us at sites such as those maintained by the Australian, British, Canadian, and United States governments.

Dr. Terry Riley is a psychologist and travel security authority. His column appears on Wednesdays. He is author of the popular book Travel Can Be Murder. Visit his site at http://www.appliedpsychology.com or e-mail him at terry@ticked.com.