The rating of the most unfavorable places for recreation by the British insurance company Norwich Union Travel Insurance is based on an analysis of crime statistics against visitors, accidents, and tourists' visits to medical facilities due to deterioration of health. Unmatched in this sense were the resorts of Thailand, where potential vacationers face a whole bunch of troubles: food poisoning, road accidents, theft, when money, things and documents disappear. In South Africa, tourists more often than in other countries have their suitcases stolen on the way to the hotel. The Czech Republic is the absolute world leader in the number of pickpocketing incidents. The resorts of Austria are recognized as the most dangerous for skiers and snowboarders - here the most broken arms and legs are recorded. Allergy sufferers are categorically forbidden to visit the Caribbean countries, where many poisonous tropical insects live.
The RBC agency prepared its own classification of countries most dangerous for the health of potential travelers. This list is led by African Benin, Gambia, Cameroon and Ethiopia. In those parts there is a full set of diseases extremely dangerous to health: tropical malaria, yellow fever, schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis, dracunculiasis, ancylostomiasis. But Turkey, Tunisia, Egypt, China and Thailand, popular among us, according to the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision, are not countries of increased danger, although focal outbreaks of some diseases also occur here.
In Africa there is the well-known tsetse fly, which causes sleeping sickness (damage to the central nervous system), and onchocerciasis is also quite common, which can be contracted from the bite of an infected black fly. In Central America it is really possible to contract Chagas disease, which is characterized by enlargement of lymph nodes, liver, spleen, and cardiovascular insufficiency. It is caused by the bite of an infected bug.
In order to prevent infection of people and the penetration of especially dangerous infectious and parasitic diseases, since 1998 the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision has obliged travel agencies selling exotic tours to conduct briefings for those leaving abroad. Every tourist traveling to African, South American and some Asian countries must get a number of vaccinations, receive a medical memo at the travel agency and sign in a special journal. The absence of this document threatens the tourist with nothing, but the company, if the client falls ill, will bear responsibility for it.
The American magazine Forbes has also published a ranking of countries dangerous for travel and work in the new year. It included 14 states - three more than were on the list in 2005. The countries were assessed in several categories - from political and terrorist risks to the possibility of a civil war and the general state of crime.
The presence of Afghanistan and Iraq in this list is not surprising: bomb explosions, kidnappings for murder or ransom, constant clashes between government troops or coalition soldiers and militants - all this happens there daily, writes Forbes. The military operation in Afghanistan has led, as the US government believes, to militants of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda movements moving to the northern provinces of Pakistan, which are poorly controlled by the central government. As a result, Pakistan also made it to the list of dangerous states.
Russia was also included in the Forbes list with a similar explanation. The publication advises avoiding travel to some republics of the North Caucasus - North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria and Chechnya. The main dangers are kidnappings for ransom, as well as various terrorist acts, including landmines planted on roadsides. Georgia is also among the countries unfavorable from the traveler's point of view. Tourists should be extremely careful especially in the area of the Pankisi Gorge, where Georgian forces cannot clear the 'rubble' of terrorists.
This year Kyrgyzstan was excluded from the Forbes list. As the magazine wrote last year, this country got into the ranking because of its proximity to Uzbekistan and due to the connections of local structures with the terrorist organization Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which the US believes is linked to Al-Qaeda. Interestingly, Uzbekistan itself did not make it to the Forbes list of dangerous countries. But apparently, last year's revolution in Kyrgyzstan changed the country, and this year it left the ranking.
According to Forbes analysts, one should not go to Haiti. As the publication warns, there is practically no police here. Many cities of the island are not controlled by the authorities, sudden demonstrations turning into pogroms and armed clashes with opponents or UN troops are almost daily here. Also not recommended for visits are the African countries Sudan, Zimbabwe, Côte d'Ivoire, Congo, Liberia and Somalia. These states are united by a low level of economic development and, as a consequence, a high level of crime.
The list of countries dangerous for tourists also includes two more African states - Burundi and Papua New Guinea, located in the Pacific Ocean. The civil war in Burundi, formally ongoing since 1993, ended with a truce between six different conflicting groups. Last year, elections even took place in the country. But, as Forbes writes, isolated attacks by rebels who do not obey the government continue. New Guinea is sadly famous for its high crime rate. Despite the fact that many multinational corporations have offices in the country, murders, car thefts, rapes, as well as a huge number of pickpockets lie in wait for foreigners in almost all cities of the country.
Well, where should one go after reading about thefts and terrorist sorties? Experts unanimously suggest paying attention primarily to Ireland, Belgium, Holland, Germany and France. These countries are recognized as the safest for tourists.
And what do Russians actually choose? Domestic show-business stars, for example, prefer to vacation in style and comfort. The most popular destinations are the United Arab Emirates and Spanish Marbella, followed by resorts in Italy, the Maldives, and the Seychelles.
Marbella is one of the most luxurious, aristocratic, and fashionable resorts in Spain, rightly considered the pearl of the Costa del Sol, and has become the main vacation spot for European aristocracy and film elite. On the "Golden Mile," a stretch of coastline nestled in greenery and flowers, are the villas of many celebrities from around the world. Members of the Spanish royal family and Arab sheikhs, Hollywood stars and European show-business personalities vacation here. Also here, in the harbor of Puerto Banús, under various flags, are the most expensive snow-white multi-deck yachts belonging to the richest people in the world. In the center of the resort on Avenida del Mar are original sculptures by the famous surrealist Salvador Dalí. Hotels in Marbella are distinguished by a high level of service and comfort. Villas, expensive Cadillacs, princes of the blood, eternal summer (even in late November, the air temperature on the Costa del Sol ranges from +20 to +25, and the water temperature does not drop below +20) – what is not a paradise for a vacation?
However, not everyone in our country can afford a vacation in Marbella or the Seychelles. That is why the most popular resorts among average Russians are Turkey (38.2% of our tourists go there), Egypt (18.6%), Italy (5.9%), Greece (5.7%), Thailand (5.6%), Spain (5.5%), Bulgaria (5.3%), Tunisia (5.1%), Croatia (5%), and Germany (5%) rounds out the top ten. The most visited places are resorts in Turkey: Kemer (21%), Alanya (14%), Marmaris (7.5%), Side (7.1%), Belek (6.5%), Antalya (5.4%). Their main competitors are Egyptian Sharm el-Sheikh (16.6%) and Hurghada (11.7%), as well as the quite remote Cuban resort of Varadero (4.2%).