U.S. State Department Updates Travel Advisories for 14 Countries

This week, The U.S. State Department updated its travel advisories for 14 countries.

The State Department is only advising Americans against travel to 2 of the 14 countries. Most of the updates or reissues are destinations in the Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution category. They include:

• Ecuador, a country where travelers should exercise increased caution due to civil unrest, crime, and kidnapping. Travelers should reconsider travel to certain areas in particular due to crime, including Guayaquil north of Portete de Tarquí Avenue, El Oro province outside the cities of Huaquillas and Arenillas, Los Rios province outside the cities, and more. The full advisory can be read here.
• Maldives, where travelers should exercise increased caution to due to terrorism. “Terrorist groups may conduct attacks with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, and local government facilities,” the Maldives advisory
• India, which is in the Level 2 category due to crime and terrorism. The State Department is warning travelers not to travel within 10 km of the India-Pakistan border “due to the potential for armed conflict” or the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir due to the same. The full advisory can be found here.
• Nepal, which now has the “potential for isolated political violence.” “Political demonstrations intended to be peaceful can sometimes escalate into violence and may be met with force by Nepali authorities,” the advisory reads.
• Sri Lanka is in Level 2 due to fuel and medicine shortages, civil unrest, and terrorism. “Sri Lanka is experiencing shortages of imported goods, including fuel, food, and medicine due to the ongoing economic situation in the country,” the advisory reads.

Other countries to land in Level 2 include Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

A number of other destinations also were updated this week, they include Bhutan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Uzbekistan, all of which are now Level 1: Exercise Normal Precaution countries.

The State Department also reissued warnings for Pakistan, which is now a Level 3: Reconsider Travel country due to terrorism and Afghanistan, which is a Level 4: Do Not Travel country due to armed conflict, civil unrest, crime, terrorism, and kidnapping.

Outside of this week’s update, most recently, the State Department also reissued travel advisories to four other destinations, including one popular European tourist spot in Denmark and another in the Caribbean in the Dominican Republic. Both of those are now at Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution.

Most popular international destinations for U.S. travelers remain in the State Department’s Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution or Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions categories. That includes Japan (Level 1), France (Level 2), Italy (level 2), Germany (Level 2), Spain (Level 2), United Kingdom (Level 2), The Bahamas (Level 2), and Turks and Caicos (Level 2), along with the four destinations that were updated this week.