The FCDO has launched a new summer campaign to help us all #GetTravelSmart. Read on to find out more...

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For some years now, Prisoners Abroad has worked with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) on the promotion of their Travel Aware campaign, highlighting everything from lesser-known foreign laws and customs, to advice on renewing passports, getting the right travel insurance and – in recent years – Covid-19 testing and vaccine entry requirements.

Whilst Covid-19 is certainly here to stay for the time being, many restrictions have eased off and there is an increased confidence surrounding travel abroad as we enter the summer months of 2022. Indeed, after a two-year hiatus, many people are now keen to jet off somewhere different, meaning the next few months are forecast to be extremely busy for travel.

We are, however, much less well-practiced in the art of travel than we were two years ago; at the beginning of 2020 many of us would have booked a holiday without a second thought, but now we need to get back into the swing of things. There are also many lingering rules and regulations surrounding Covid-19 that vary from country to country and are still liable to change at short notice. This, coupled with the flight cancellations we have already seen dominating the news over the past few weeks, mean it may not be as easy as picking a destination and jumping on a plane.

To help with this, the FCDO have launched their ‘Get Travel Smart’ campaign. The aim is to encourage as many of us as possible to engage with travel advice pre-holiday, so we can all experience safe and enjoyable trips abroad. The main messages are simple:

• Check FCDO Travel Advice for all the latest information on your destination
• Get insurance and check your cover
• Sign up to email alerts for travel advice
• Know the laws and customs of your destination

You can find more information on all of the above, as well as further information on the changes to Working Visa in Europe, by visiting https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, and by following the FCDO’s Travel Advice accounts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

The FCDO currently provides consular assistance to about 2,000 British nationals detained or arrested abroad. Pre-Covid – 2019 and before – they provided consular assistance to about 2,200 British nationals detained or arrested abroad. Here at Prisoners Abroad, we assisted a total of 1,253 prisoners detained in 95 countries around the world between 1st April 2021 and 31st March 2022.

By following the #GetTravelSmart messaging, however, we can hopefully reduce the number of British nationals who require consular assistance. At Prisoners Abroad, our advice is the same as ever; do your research before you travel and if you find yourself in a situation that makes you feel uneasy or anxious, walk away immediately.

Look out for a renewed ‘Country of the Month’ campaign from us in the coming weeks, but in the meantime check out our previous blog posts on lesser-known laws and customs from various countries around the world, as well as an A-Z guide to being #TravelAware.

Revisiting Country of the Month 

Your A-Z guide of being #TravelAware

We will also be sharing further #GetTravelSmart information on our own social media across the summer. You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to stay up to date.