Most people book a resort by looking at photos, room types and price. The step that often gets skipped is reading the government travel advice for the destination, even though it costs nothing and takes about ten minutes. Australian travellers have Smartraveller, run by the Australian Government, and it rates every destination on a four-level scale. This guide explains what the levels mean, how to read a country page sensibly and how the advice connects to bookings, insurance and refunds.
The four levels
According to Smartraveller’s explanation of its levels, the scale works like this:
- Level 1, exercise normal safety precautions. Take the precautions you would at home, check the media and other reliable sources for updates and watch for changes to local conditions.
- Level 2, exercise a high degree of caution. There are more or higher risks than in a large Australian city. The advice does not say do not go, but it asks you to research the place and take extra precautions.
- Level 3, reconsider your need to travel. There are serious and potentially life-threatening risks, which can make the location unsafe for tourism and unsuitable for most travellers. The advice is to avoid non-essential travel, and to take extra precautions if you do go.
- Level 4, do not travel. Health and safety are at extreme risk, and the Australian Government is severely limited in how it can help.
The important thing to notice is that Level 2 is not a warning against going. Many popular holiday destinations sit at Level 2, because the scale is calibrated against a large Australian city. A Level 2 rating means read more closely, not cancel.
Read the whole page, not just the number
A single level for a whole country can hide differences that matter to a resort trip. Country pages commonly set out advice for specific regions and for specific risks, and the overall level may not match the level for the place you are going. Before you rely on a number, do the following:
- Open the country page and read the summary at the top.
- Look for the section on where the advice differs by region, and find the state or province where your resort is.
- Read the sections on safety and on health. They list the risks that affect visitors most, such as crime around specific areas, natural hazards and health warnings.
- Note the date the advice was last updated.
Resort areas are often a different situation from the rest of a country, but a resort is not a bubble. Transfers, excursions and days out all take you beyond the property, so read the advice with those trips in mind.
The same destination, different governments
Other governments publish their own advice using their own scales, and the labels differ. The United States State Department, for example, publishes advisories for individual countries and has a page for each. If you hold two passports or are travelling with people from another country, compare both sources. When they differ, follow the more cautious advice for the specific place you are going, and treat the scale words as guidance, not a formula.
Where the advice connects to your booking
Three practical points follow.
- Insurance. Policies often have conditions about known events and about travelling against advice. We cannot tell you what your policy says. Read the wording, and use our guide to how travel insurance works for an all-inclusive trip to know which sections to check.
- Refunds. A resort’s refund terms may not respond to a change in government advice. The rules sit in the booking terms, so read them before you pay. Our guide to what a cancellation policy says shows where.
- Timing. Advice changes. Check it when you book, again a few weeks before you leave and again in the days before departure.
Advice is broader than crime
Travel advice pages also cover natural hazards, entry rules and health. In the Caribbean and Mexico, that includes hurricane season, seaweed and visa or form requirements. Our coverage of the Atlantic hurricane season and the sargassum outlook shows how these seasonal factors work, and our updates on the Dominican Republic e-ticket and Jamaica’s C5 form show how entry requirements change. Health advice is also worth a look, and our document checklist covers the paperwork side.
A five-minute routine
- Before shortlisting a destination, check its level and read the summary.
- Before booking, read the regional advice for the resort’s area and the health section.
- Save or screenshot the page with its update date, so you can see what changed later.
- Read your insurance wording for anything that refers to government advice.
- Check again close to departure, and register your travel plans if the service offers it.
This is a general guide to reading the advice, not a statement about any destination’s current level. We have not stated any country’s level here on purpose, because levels change and the official page is the only reliable source. Our guide on how to choose an all-inclusive resort shows where this step sits in the wider decision.