If you are planning an international vacation, you might be surprised to find that some top contenders may not be as safe as you thought.

Recently, the Government of Canada updated travel advice and advisories and a few well-known vacation spots require a little more caution and consideration than they did before.

For instance, the location of the Summer Olympics, Brazil, was recently added to the list of places Canadian citizens should exercise a high degree of caution when travelling to.

Photo Credit: Stock image.Brazil.

The government lists the high crime rate and gang-related violence as the main reasons but have also added a Travel Health Notice on Zika virus in the area.

“Pregnant women and those considering becoming pregnant should avoid travel to countries with ongoing Zika virus outbreaks,” they write.

Along with Brazil, plenty of other busy and beachy hot spots make that list including Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Bahamas, and parts of Mexico.

In Asia, popular destinations like Vietnam, Nepal, China, and parts of Thailand also make the list due to isolated acts of violence like bombings and protests in China, petty crime targeting tourists in Vietnam and political tensions in Thailand and Nepal.

In light of terrorist attacks in the past year, Belgium and France both make the list as well.

Photo Credit: Stock image.Paris, France.

Most strongly, Canadians are urged to avoid all travel to South Sudan, Somalia, North Korea and parts of Egypt.