MFA: Travel Fair 2017: The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and THL wish you a safe trip

MINISTRY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
http://formin.finland.fi/english

Press release 10/2017
17 January 2017

Travel Fair 2017: The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and THL wish you a safe trip

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) will have a joint stand at the Travel Fair 2017 organised at the Expo and Convention Centre in Helsinki on 19–22 January 2017. Services for travellers and instructions on travel safety and health while travelling will be presented at stand 6s61.

What to do if problems are encountered when travelling? What sort of difficulties do Finns usually face on their trips? A panel organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Madventures will discuss these topics on the Suomi Stage on Saturday, 21 January 2017 at 15.00. TV personality, traveller Jethro Rostedt will interview the Madventures duo, Riku Rantala and Tunna Milonoff, from abroad via the internet.  Consul Minna Kokkonen from the Finnish Embassy in Paris and Katariina Kainulainen, Specialist in Infectious Diseases, will take part in the discussion on site.

During the weekend, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen, who travels a great deal due to his work, will talk about his travel experiences, Consul Raimo Pahkasalo from the Finnish Embassy in Bangkok will bring greetings from Thailand and Madventures correspondents will present travel tips from different parts of the world.

At the stand, visitors will hear brief informative talks about, among other topics, jet lag, resistance to antibiotics, travel diarrhoea, sexually transmitted diseases, venous thrombosis, mosquito-transmitted infections and travelling as a family with children. We will also talk about how the Ministry for Foreign Affairs can help in various emergencies abroad and what is worth doing when preparing for a trip.

Your holiday will be safer when you remember the Foreign Ministry’s 4 Ts before your trip: before you travel, take out adequate travel insurance, read the travel advice published by the Ministry, file a travel notification and make sure that all your travel documents are in order. In addition, contact your healthcare provider in good time before the trip and determine what vaccines you need and whether preventive medication for malaria is necessary.

Inquiries: Content and Communications Specialist Heli Pietilä, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 295 351 422, and Communications Officer Terhi Hulkko, THL, tel. +358 295 248 691

The Foreign Ministry's email addresses are of the format firstname.lastname@formin.fi. THL's email addresses are of the format firstname.lastname@formin.fi.