Travel counsellors and travel health advice.

BACKGROUND Travel Counsellors may be a source of health advice to travellers and might influence travellers' decisions to seek consultation from health professionals. We examined the travel health advice that Alberta travel counsellors currently provide their clients and assessed their health knowledge and practices. METHODS Cross-sectional postal survey of travel counsellors who book international trips identified from a random sample of Alberta travel agencies in 2000. RESULTS The response rate was 54.4%. Over 80% of respondents routinely provide clients with general health advice, and approximately 70% advise on malaria risk and vaccines required for travel. The risk of malaria was correctly identified by 72% of the respondents who frequently book clients to malarious destinations. Most respondents (79%) thought they should be involved in promoting the health of international travellers. Their preference was to provide health advice to their clients (90%) rather than refer them to a health professional (67%). CONCLUSIONS A large proportion of Alberta travel counsellors provided travel-related health advice to clients. Their preferred role of counselling rather than referring conflicts with the recommendations of the International Society of Travel Medicine.