I came across the Worldcue Travel Planner today when renewing my DAN (Divers Alert Network) membership. It is an online tool that allows you to plan your upcoming trips with a little more ease. I noticed 3 key areas that are very useful, particularly for more exotic trips:
- Location Intel
- Tools/Health Requirements
- Tools/Entry Exit Requirements
Location Intel
This tab is great for selecting your destination and bringing up a list of potential risks, such as CDC health warnings, and geopolitical issues. It is reasonably smart in that the data drills down into hotspots, for example, I entered ‘Greece’ in general and got a different risk profile from ‘Athens’ as there is likely to be more civil unrest in the capital than in the Country overall.
When testing other locations you get to see CDC warnings and alerts for outbreaks. I also like that there is a currency on this page, and while I know that Greece is (as of today) in the Euro, there are often times when I go on vacation not knowing what the local currency is, or the fair exchange rate, so have to find all this data separately.
Greece currently via Worldcue Planner, note that the overall risk ratings are lower than Athens below.
Athens, via Worldcue Planner, note that they anticipate higher risks from civil unrest by region/populace.
Tools/Health Requirements
Under the Tools tab there is a Health Requirements section, I plugged in some of the places from our honeymoon (it didn’t have Zanzibar listed) and included entry/exit points.
Health Requirements for your trip
Note that this didn’t really take into account the ‘pattern’ of the trip, so you still need to exercise caution as you read the results. They do clearly state ‘if you are entering from a Yellow Fever Country…’ and when we traveled we didn’t fully consider that the route we took (USA>South Africa>Mozambique>Tanzania>Zanzibar>South Africa>USA) meant that we were considered ‘at risk’ when we came back into South Africa on the return to the USA…. However, all the information is there, so it is just a case of me not properly visualizing the route.
/ 05JUL15 / 1434 UTC
Embarkation USA (US) /Transit Mozambique (MZ)
Transit South Africa (ZA) /Transit Tanzania (TZ)
Destination Mozambique (MZ) /Destination South Africa (ZA)
Destination Tanzania (TZ)
ALSO CHECK DESTINATION INFORMATION BELOW
Passengers arriving within 6 days after leaving or transiting
countries with risk of yellow fever transmission For details, click here
and not holding a yellow fever vaccination certificate are
subject to vaccination upon arrival.
Exempt from Yellow Fever vaccination:
- Children under 1 year of age.
- Passengers transiting Mozambique provided not leaving the
transit area.
- Passengers transiting countries with risk of yellow fever
transmission provided not leaving the transit areas.
Vaccination against yellow fever required if arriving within
10 days from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission
For details, click here.
Exempt from Yellow Fever vaccination:
- Passengers transiting countries with risk of yellow fever
transmission For details, click here for max. 12 hours and not leaving
the transit area.
- Children under 1 year of age, provided holding a medical
certificate stating inoculation is undesirable.
- Passengers transiting South Africa provided not leaving the
transit area.
- Holders of a certificate of contraindication on medical
grounds, who will be placed under quarantine.
- Nationals of South Africa, who will be placed under
quarantine.
Passengers arriving within 6 days after leaving or transiting
countries with risk of yellow fever transmission For details, click here
and not holding a yellow fever vaccination certificate are
subject to vaccination upon arrival:
Exempt from Yellow Fever vaccination:
- Children under 1 year of age.
- Passengers transiting Tanzania provided not leaving the
transit area.
- Passengers transiting countries with risk of yellow fever
transmission provided not leaving the transit areas.
Passengers arriving within 6 days after leaving or transiting
countries with risk of yellow fever transmission For details, click here
and not holding a yellow fever vaccination certificate are
subject to vaccination upon arrival.
Exempt from Yellow Fever vaccination:
- Children under 1 year of age.
- Passengers transiting countries with risk of yellow fever
transmission provided not leaving the transit areas.
Recommended:
- Malaria prophylaxis: malaria risk, mainly due to P.
falciparum, exists throughout the year in the whole country.
Recommended prevention: C.
Vaccination against yellow fever required if arriving within
10 days from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission
For details, click here.
Exempt from Yellow Fever vaccination:
- Passengers transiting countries with risk of yellow fever
transmission For details, click here for max. 12 hours and not leaving
the transit area.
- Children under 1 year of age, provided holding a medical
certificate stating inoculation is undesirable.
- Holders of a certificate of contraindication on medical
grounds, who will be placed under quarantine.
- Nationals of South Africa, who will be placed under
quarantine.
Recommended:
- Malaria prophylaxis: malaria risk, mainly due to P.
falciparum, exists throughout the year in the low altitude
areas of Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga Province (including
the Kruger National Park) and north-eastern Kwazulu Natal as
far south as the Tugela river. Risk is highest from October
to May. Recommended prevention in risk areas: C.
Passengers arriving within 6 days after leaving or transiting
countries with risk of yellow fever transmission For details, click here
and not holding a yellow fever vaccination certificate are
subject to vaccination upon arrival:
- for nationals of Tanzania. Fee: TZS 10,000.-;
- for nationals of any other country. Fee: USD 10.-.
Exempt from Yellow Fever vaccination:
- Children under 1 year of age.
- Passengers transiting countries with risk of yellow fever
transmission provided not leaving the transit areas.
Recommended:
- Malaria prophylaxis: malaria risk, mainly due to P.
falciparum, exists throughout the year in the whole country
below 1800m. Recommended prevention: C.
CHECK TINEWS/N1 - KENYA: VISA ON ARRIVAL TO BE WITHDRAWN
Tools Entry/Exit Requirements
This item is useful as it also allows for the route to be taken into consideration. I’m aware (vaguely) that certain routes require visas, such as transit through parts of Russia and other areas. I plugged in a fruity itinerary to see what popped up, and you can see the alerts for certain regions/airports.
Entry/Exit Requirements, note that your transit points are considered.
/ 05JUL15 / 1455 UTC
National United Kingdom (GB) /Residence USA (US)
Transit Russian Fed. (RU) /Destination Madagascar (MG)
ALSO CHECK DESTINATION INFORMATION BELOW
TWOV (Transit Without Visa):
Visa required, except for Holders of onward tickets for a max.
transit For details, click here time of 24 hours.
- TWOV not applicable if transit is to/from Belarus.
- There are no transit facilities available at Khabarovsk
(KHV), Krasnodar (KRR), Yuzhno Sakhalinsk (UUS) and
Vladivostok (VVO). Passengers are required to clear
Immigration and Customs.
- If in transit to/from Belarus; or if the airport of arrival
is different from the airport of departure within the same
Russian city, then a Russian (transit) visa is required.
Passport required.
- Passports and/or passport replacing documents must be valid
for at least 6 months from date of arrival.
- British passports endorsed British Citizen that have been
extended 12 months by an extension stamp contained within
the passport are accepted.
Passport Exemptions:
- Holders of emergency or temporary passports.
Visa Issuance:
Visa required, except for Holders of confirmed onward/return
ticket can obtain a visa on arrival for a max. stay of 90
days. Fee: Max. 30 days: Free of charge. Max. 60 days: MGA
100,000.-. Max. 90 days: MGA 140,000.- (or equivalent in EUR
or USD).
Warning:
- Passports of visitors must contain at least 1 unused visa
page.
CHECK TINEWS/N1 - KENYA: VISA ON ARRIVAL TO BE WITHDRAWN
Overall, quite a useful tool when booking exotic awards, and checking ahead to make sure that your visas and inoculations are up to speed. It seems that access to the tool may be a little limited, but perhaps there is a way for the unwashed to access this without paying DAN or having it part of their corporate benefits – please let me know in the comments if you’ve heard of one.
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