Tourism | MSAR implements new travel alert system

The region’s new travel alert system was published yesterday in the Official Gazette and will take effect from March 7. The alert system will be managed by the Tourism Crisis Management Office (GGCT).

The office issued a statement stressing that, given the possibility of events such as threats of a new type of terrorism, technological accidents, and natural catastrophes, the tourism industry needs to adapt and be prepared to face at any moment and without prior notice, a crisis situation. Thus the need for a new travel alert system “which allows for an easy and timely dissemination of information about crisis situations, emergencies or catastrophes affecting different parts of the world,” GGCT states.

The alert system covers 77 countries or travel destinations which are considered the preferred travel destinations of Macau residents. Taiwan, mainland China and Hong Kong are not covered given the fact that they “are part of the People’s Republic of China,” the statement continues.

The warnings are categorized in three different levels, where level 1 represents an imminent threat to personal safety, level 2 represents that the threat to personal safety is elevated and level 3 represents the presence of an extreme threat to personal safety.

Factors which will be taken into consideration when issuing, cancelling, raising or lowering the levels of the travel alerts include the danger levels of the social- economic fabric, the political frame of the destinations that can constitute simple or complex scenarios (with multiple dangers), the concrete situation and the degree of threat to personal safety.

The travel alert system does not have a prohibitive nature and it is up to each individual to decide or adjust their travel plan according to the information provided.

With the implementation of the travel alert system, the GGCT advises Macau residents to purchase comprehensive travel insurance before traveling with a coverage option for the MSAR Travel Alert System.

According to the GGCT, the travel alert system is the result of an extended period of analysis and research by various public and private entities.