The Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) raised yesterday its travel alert for Israel to Level 3, indicating an “extremely high” level of threat to personal safety for local residents visiting the Middle Eastern nation.
The update comes amid the increasing frequency of travel for Macau residents along with social and tourism activities’ return to normalcy after the three-year COVID-19 pandemic, according to an MGTO statement yesterday, which noted that it has adjusted its Level 2 travel alert issued for countries and regions on March 19, 2020, while adding five more countries or destinations – Gibraltar, Mauritius, Kazakhstan and Equatorial Guinea as well as São Tomé and Príncipe – to the list of countries and travel destinations covered by its travel alert system.
MGTO advises local residents to purchase comprehensive travel insurance which covers the 82 countries and destinations listed in its travel alert system.
In line with the current Travel Alert System, Egypt and Turkey are among the countries and regions where the travel alert was raised to Level 2, advising local travellers to reconsider their non-essential travel plans. India, Indonesia, Mindanao in Philippines, Myanmar, Nepal, Peru, Russia, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, the UK, Bangladesh and Fukushima in Japan have been elevated to Level 1, recommending travellers to exercise caution.
MGTO generally recommends that local residents planning to visit Egypt or Turkey reconsider the need to travel there at this time, while local residents travelling to India, Indonesia, Mindanao, Myanmar, Nepal, Peru, Russia, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, the UK, Bangladesh and Fukushima should stay alert and vigilant regarding their own safety, based on the recommended precautions.
Travellers are encouraged to postpone trips to countries and regions, and, in certain situations, leave the destinations under MGTO’s Level 3 Travel Alert, with special emphasis on Israel, the only country currently on Level 3.
Macau residents can call MGTO’s 24-hour tourism hotline at +853 2833 3000, the Chinese embassy or consulate in the respective area, or the Global Emergency Call Center for Consular Protection and Services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at its hotline: +86 10 12308 for assistance in case of need.
MGTO reminds local residents in Japan to stay alert
Meanwhile, in a separate statement on Monday, MGTO reminded local residents currently visiting Japan to pay close attention to the island nation’s earthquake developments, weather warnings and disaster prevention information, follow the precautionary and evacuation instructions issued by the Japanese government, raise their awareness of self-protection, and strengthen their safety precautions. MGTO also reminded local residents who are planning to visit Japan to stay vigilant and pay attention to the latest earthquake warning issued by the Japanese government.
A magnitude-7.1 earthquake hit southern Japan’s Miyazaki prefecture on Thursday, in the wake of which the Japanese government issued a major earthquake warning for some parts of the country, as reported by Xinhua.
This image shows the Macau Government Tourism Office’s (MGTO) official logo.
