Ministry for Foreign Affairs opened a WAP site for travellers
Press release 14/2006
19.1.2006
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs opened on 19 January, a WAP site intended for Finnish travellers. It offers information related to travel safety published on the Ministry for Foreign Affairs website. The WAP site can be accessed at wap.formin.fi. The service operates on mobile phones supporting the WAP 2.0 standard.
Using their mobile phones, travellers can access the WAP site and read detailed travel advice notices compiled by the Finnish embassies and consulates. The foreign missions monitor the safety situation in their own region and draw up travel notices for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs online service on a regular basis. The travel advice notices inform about the political situation in the country in question, warn about crime and dangerous areas, report traffic problems, and remind of necessary vaccinations.
Travellers not sure of the safety situation in their travel destination are advised to register their own contact details during their travel with the ministry, which can be done via the new WAP site. They can also search for contact information of the nearest foreign mission or the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland on the WAP site.
The first service the Ministry for Foreign Affairs offered for travellers was a text message service operating on mobile phones, launched in spring 2002. The SMS service is still fully operational.
The WAP site was deemed necessary, since it can offer the travellers more information than a mere SMS message. The basis of the WAP site is web content developed for WAP browsers used in mobile phones.
Both services operate in Finnish and Swedish.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs does not charge the expenses for using the mobile services from the user. The user only pays the operators’ fees. The services have been produced in collaboration with Nitro.
More information about travel safety and mobile services will be available at the Finnish International Travel Fair 2006, to be held at the Helsinki Fair Centre on 19-22 January. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ display will be located at stand 6n39.
At the fair on Saturday, 21 January, at 13.00 and 15.00 o’clock there will be briefings to travellers in Ballroom 2 under a heading "Travel safely and in good health". Director Pekka Hyvönen from the Unit for Consular Services at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will give a briefing about consular services and travel advice notices published on the ministry’s website, as well as the mobile services. Special researcher Heli Siikamäki from the National Health Institute in Finland will tell about health risks related to travelling.
Additional information: Head of Web Communications Raija Leppäjärvi, tel. +358 9 1605 5991, Director Erja Tikka, Information Unit, tel. +358 9 1605 5818, and Director Pekka Hyvönen, Unit for Consular Services, tel. +358 9 1605 5739, wap.formin.fi
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Mari Kivineimi at the opening of the Finnish Travel Fair