US Updates Travel Advisories for 14 Countries

This past week saw several new travel advisory updates.

On June 22, the U.S. State Department issued a new travel advisory for Ecuador. The South American country is at the Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution advisory. The U.S. says some areas are at risk and to “exercise increased caution in Ecuador due to civil unrest, crime, and kidnapping.”

On June 23, the U.S. State Department updated 13 travel advisories for 13 countries.

A few of the more popular travel destinations from those 13 that stand out: Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Nepal. None are above Level 2 though.

In Sri Lanka, the advisory states to “exercise increased caution in Sri Lanka due to fuel and medicine shortages, civil unrest, and terrorism.”

Nepal also has its health problems, as the advisory states: “be aware that infrastructure, government services and medical assistance may not be up to U.S. standards.” There are also political demonstrations in which travelers are urged to stay away from.

And in the idyllic Maldives, travelers are warned that terrorist groups target tourist destinations. The U.S. summarizes the update by saying, “terrorist groups may conduct attacks with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, and local government facilities. Attacks may occur on remote islands which could lengthen the response time of authorities.”

The full State Department list includes Afghanistan, with a designation of Level 4: Do Not Travel; Pakistan, with a Level 3: Reconsider Travel; Turkmenistan; Tajikistan; Kazakhstan; Bangladesh, India all at Level 2, and Bhutan, Uzbekistan, and the Kyrgyzstan Republic all at Level 1.