'Know before you go' is a new campaign by the Foreign Office aimed at making young travellers better prepared for trips abroad.

The campaign offers vital information to help young Britons avoid getting into difficulties by making them aware of some simple precautions they can take before heading off.

Students on gap years, adventure holidays or young people simply on a weekend break, will be encouraged to to take out comprehensive travel insurance, check out the FCO travel advice and consult their GP prior to travel.

Baroness Amos, from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, answered your questions in an interactive forum.

Transcript

Newshost:
Hello and welcome to this BBC News Online interactive forum. I'm George Eykyn. For many of us our thoughts are already turning to the summer holidays, whether we're dreaming of an action packed adventure or a lazy week on the beach. But are we doing enough to make sure we'll get the help we need if anything goes wrong and to avoid the holiday turning into a nightmare? The Foreign Office doesn't think so and has launched a campaign aimed at the most carefree group - the under 30s - to warn them about the risks of travelling to certain countries. The campaign is called Know Before You Go.

We've received many questions from you about the safety of foreign travel, particularly with the outbreak of Sars. Here to help answer some of them is the Foreign Office minister Baroness Amos. Baroness Amos welcome to News Online, thank you for joining us. Why has the Foreign Office felt it necessary to launch this campaign?

Baroness Amos:
Well this is part of a longer campaign that we launched in 2001, which is really just about informing our travellers about the kinds of precautions they can take before they travel, which will help their holidays to go much better. A part of that larger campaign we're having a series of mini campaigns, if you like, and this one is targeted towards the 16 to 30 age group. We did some research earlier this year and some of the results caused us some concern. Some 28% of our young people will travel on holiday without adequate travel insurance - that's a real problem if they get into any kind of trouble abroad. And significant numbers of them, even larger numbers, don't go to their GP, they don't get the proper jabs before they go. We take some 60 million trips abroad each year, we like travelling as Britons and what we want to see is for people to go away, to have a good time and not have the kind of holiday horrors which are becoming more and more frequent.

Newshost:
Were you surprised when you saw these figures, in particular that a third of people don't even both to plan their holiday? I mean if that's the case how on earth are you going to get through to people who are so carefree about the whole exercise?

Baroness Amos:
Well I was surprised when I saw the figures but we also have to remember that our lives are changing - we've got more and more low cost airlines, people are able to make a decision at the very last minute and that's fine. Some of the precautions that we're talking about are very simple, they're things like noting down your credit card numbers, so if they get stolen you can do something about it, making a note of your passport number, keeping in touch with your family - just letting them know where you're going to be so if they have a cause for concern because something has happened, they're able to find out whether you're safe or not. And taking out travel insurance, you can take out travel insurance at the airport now, at your port of exit. So it's not that difficult, we can still retain that spontaneity, that carefreeness, it doesn't have to be boring.

Newshost:
Baroness you'll know that obviously Sars is the topic on most travellers' minds, particularly those going to the areas affected. We've got an e-mail here from Patricia Lopez in Mexico who says: "How lethal is Sars? Is it a real threat or is it being singled out because of how exotic it is? How does it compare with the deaths, for instance, from flu?"

Baroness Amos:
Well of course there are lots of deaths from flu every year. I think the difficulty that we have with Sars is that this is something which is travelling, a number of countries have been affected now - over 26 countries - we've had nearly 300 deaths. It seems to have peaked in some countries and not others. So what we're trying to do is to give people advice, guidance and information that will help them to make a decision about whether they feel safe or secure or not.

Newshost:
Well let's deal with somebody who's actually on the ground in Asia at the moment and is worried. Adam Sturdy from Korea has e-mailed to ask: "I'm currently working in Seoul for a couple of weeks. What is the risk of Sars infection and what precautions should I be taking to reduce my personal risk?"

Baroness Amos:
Well I think the most important thing is that people find out what the local information is about what they should and should not be doing because obviously those who are on the ground, the medical people on the ground, will be able to give advice. In terms of our own advice that we're giving, as the Foreign Office, we're suggesting to people that they think about travel to Hong Kong, they think about travel to Beijing and two specific provinces in China. In areas like Singapore they're asking them to look very carefully at the advice that's being given by the local authorities and we're waiting to hear from the World Health Organisation with respect to Toronto.

Newshost:
Final question on Sars, we'll try and make sure the subject doesn't completely dominate the limited time Minister, but there's an issue here about striking a balance, isn't there, in the advice you're giving. Jono has e-mailed us from Taiwan talking about scaremongering, he says: "Sars is by no means as bad as the press and media would make you believe, a simple cough on the subway will make everyone flee, paranoid people have replaced the usual friendly population." So your advice on this has got to be striking a balance between the necessary precautions and reality?

Baroness Amos:
That's absolutely right. And as a government we are very, very conscious of the importance of getting that balance right. We are not scaremongering, what we are doing and what we see our responsibility as being is to give people enough information to enable them to make an informed choice, that's what our responsibility is as a government.

Newshost:
Let's move on now to one of the topics which your campaign itself highlights and that's the issue of drugs and travellers getting caught up and ending up being charged. Quite a high number - the figures run into thousands for people charged with drug related offences. An e-mail here from Sue in Essex who says that she's seen a lot of movies where people are used as drug mules. She would never try to smuggle drugs herself but should she be concerned about anyone trying to put drugs in her luggage?

Baroness Amos:
Everyone should be concerned about being given a package, being asked to carry something for somebody, somebody that you don't know. If you are asked to carry a package and you would like to do that, make sure that it's a package that is open, that you know what the contents are. We have some horrible situations where young people have been offered money, for example, to carry things, they do that without knowing exactly what it is and the penalties can be very severe indeed. There are countries across the world that have mandatory sentences in prison, long sentences, you can have sentences as much as 12 years. In Spain, which is not that far away, Jamaica, mandatory prison sentences, huge fines.

Newshost:
Well you mentioned the issue of laws and being aware of them, that's something else that your survey highlights - young people don't know enough about the customs and laws. And is it still the case that people travel thinking a British passport actually makes them immune to the requirements of local law?

Baroness Amos:
Yes I think it is the case, I think that people forget when they're going on holiday that they still have a responsibility. Some of the things that we do automatically when we're here at home we don't do when we're abroad because we're going away, we want to have a good time, and actually we forget that some of the common sense precautions that we take when we're at home we don't take when we go away. But the other thing is that I think we forget that laws and customs can be different. We think it's going to be exactly the way that it is at home and yet we're going away to have a different experience. And that's why our travel advice - we have travel advice for some 209 countries in the world - we try and flag up particular areas where laws and customs are different. Then again part of the responsibility has got to be with the traveller, just to have a little bit of knowledge before they go about what may or may not be acceptable.

Newshost:
A couple more brief questions, if we could Minister while we've still got you. The other issue, obviously, that can't be ignored is that of sex and romance generally. We've had an e-mail here from Pia in London who asks: "Is there any way to go on a safe date if I meet someone nice on my holiday?"

Baroness Amos:
Well I think there is a way to go on a safe date. I mean one is that perhaps to go with a group of friends. To make sure, for example, if you are having a drink that you keep an eye on that drink all the time, don't leave your drink and go to the bathroom and come back because drinks can be spiked. Make sure that you know how you're going to get yourself back to your hotel or wherever you're staying. I think the one thing I would say to people is don't go off on your own with somebody that you don't know late at night, make sure you have enough money, make sure you've made arrangements to get yourself back to where you're staying.

Newshost:
Paul has e-mailed us from Cardiff asking, he wants to do a gap year when he finishes school and he wants to go Vietnam. "My parents," he says, "are freaking out and don't want me to go. I'll be 18 when I go and totally an adult. How can I convince them that it will be safe?"

Baroness Amos:
Well I think there are a number of things that he can do, he can show his parents the advice that we're giving with respect to Vietnam and what we say about Vietnam as a country, go on to our website. He could encourage his parents to phone our travel advice unit who will be able to give information and advice about what is safe and what is not safe. And I think he just has to persuade his parents that he is a responsible young man. Travelling has become part and parcel of our culture. He has to persuade them that he will keep in touch, many parents get worried because their children disappear for long periods of time and they don't hear from them. With texting, with e-mailing, we have ways of keeping in touch and sometimes that's the most important thing that we need to do.

Newshost:
Baroness Amos, we've run out of time. Many thanks for joining us here on BBC News Online. And thank you for watching. Before we go one reminder of the website the Minister was mentioning there, its address is: www.fco.gov.uk/knowbeforeyougo. From all of us at News Online goodbye.