Foreign Office warns holidaymakers against extramarital sex in Muslim countries

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/dec/26/travel-euro-foreign-office

Holidaymakers to the United Arab Emirates have been told not to have sex outside marriage or kiss in public in strong government warnings over how to behave in Muslim countries.

The advice, which goes further than the traditional admonition for women to dress modestly, follows allegations of drunken sex romps. The Foreign Office is worried that increasing numbers of tourists will get into trouble abroad as they the travel to less traditional holiday destinations and fall foul of local laws and customs.

The number of Britons going to Egypt this year increased by 38% and to Turkey by 32% and similar rises are expected in 2009 as more Britons look outside the eurozone to make their holiday money go further. Warnings about modesty are also given to those planning to visit the Kenya coast and rural areas of Malaysia .

Travellers to several countries are warned about their strong anti-drug laws as well as no-tolerance attitudes towards excessive drinking. The government says embassies regularly deal with Britons who have failed to take enough money, telling holidaymakers to ensure they have back-up emergency funds and sufficient insurance.

The Foreign Office already supports 75,000 Britons in difficulties abroad each year, from visiting those in hospital or arrested to rescuing them from forced marriage, in addition to dealing with 3 million consular inquiries. Julian Braithwaite, director of consular services, said: " If people don't research their destinations before they go , it could do more than spoil their holiday. What's normal in reports in Spain or Greece are not necessarily acceptable in Turkey or Egypt."

The warning come in the 2009 Travel Trends Report, written with travel association Abta, which tries to be positive about holidays next year. "Many experts believe travel lags about six months behind the rest of the economy. Holidays are one of the last things consumers will cut when it comes to discretionary spend but no one in the travel industry is under any illusion that 2009 is going to be anything other than challenging."

The report, an addition to the Foreign Office's Know Before You Go campaign, carries results of a poll 0f more than 2,100 adults commissioned from YouGov, which suggests about one in five fears they or their partner will lose their jobs before their next holiday and a similar proportion feel going abroad is a luxury they might not be able to afford next year. Nearly one in eight are not planning a holiday at all, and one in nine will only holiday in the UK. More than half all those questioned in November thought the pound was going to get even weaker — a belief that has already been confirmed.

Although European favourites such as France and Spain will continue to be most popular with tourists even in a recession and with the strong euro, Mexico, Croatia, Israel, the Caribbean , Australia and Poland are expected to be other holiday hotspots. Iceland is seen as increasingly attractive following its own financial crisis. with a beer now the equivalent of about £2.50 instead of £7 and the cost of a meal out tumbling to a third of what it was.

The report is upbeat about the US remaining popular, with a combination of the Obama Effect and the US's own dire economic straits could mean it remains a significant destination. The plummeting pound is bound to have "a slight impact" on demand, it concedes , but adds that the last time there had been a two-dollar exchange rate was 1981, and that prices and the cost of living in the US is beginning to fall too. An Obama boom may also help Kenya's tourist numbers, because of the next US president's family connections.

Around 50,000 couples are thought to have got married abroad this year, and the exotic locations, warmer climate and economy (nuptials abroad cost an average £6,000 instead of the £15-20,000 in Britain), are likely to see this figure rise. Another rising trend will be "posh camping" in teepees or semi-permanent structures with built-in bathrooms.