Know Before You Go
The Know Before You Go campaign is an ongoing initiative from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office with over 400 travel industry partners to help Brits stay safe and healthy abroad. The campaign was launched in 2001 to promote several key messages and uses many methods of reaching the British public, including travel advice, mini campaigns, public advertisement, and publications.
'Know Before You Go' Messages
The campaign has several key messages, all of which aim to address the problems that British nationals often face abroad. The principal messages are:
- The importance of having adequate Travel insurance
- Checking relevant travel advice
- Destination research to know the local laws and customs
- Checking health requirements before travel
- Making sure that Passports are valid with all necessary visas
- The importance of copying travel documents in case the originals are lost
- The benefits of leaving emergency contact details with people at home
- Having access to emergency funds in case of problems
'Know Before You Go' Target Groups
Particular types of travellers tend to experience unique problems. In order to tackle the varying problems associated with different groups, the Know Before You Go Campaign targets several specific groups of travellers:
- Independent travellers
- Package holiday makers
- Gap Year travellers
- Sports travellers
- Ethnic minorities
- Elderly and retired travellers
'Know Before You Go' Mini Campaigns
The campaign also uses specific mini-campaigns in order to effectively address the problems experienced by certain groups of travellers. Recent KBYG mini-campaigns include:
- Rugby Lions Tour 2009
- UEFA Champions League Final 2009
- Gogapyear.com competitions
- British Behaviour Abroad report
- Road Safety Abroad
- Attending festivals such as the Africa Oye & London Mela events
- Travel Trends report in collaboration with The Association of British Travel Agents
'Know Before You Go' Publications
In order to support the work that the mini-campaigns carry out, several publications have been produced to inform British nationals of the situations that could arise whilst abroad, and what the Foreign and Commonwealth Office can do for them if problems arise. These publications include:
- Support for British nationals abroad: a guide
- Going to live abroad
- Victims of crime abroad
- Lonely Planet travel safe
- In prison abroad
- World Wise