TURTLE ISLAND IS 'as close to heaven on Earth as you're likely to get', boasts its Web site, which goes on to promise a 'loving Fijian experience . . . ensuring a happy guest every time'. Sipadan Island off the coast of Sabah, Malaysia, also has a Web site which publishes entries in its guest book, such as the one from J Kawamoto of Japan: 'I hope I can make it again sometime soon.' Guests at both these exclusive resorts have left with experiences they will never forget - nightmare ones such as being held hostage. J Kawamoto is unlikely to return to Sipadan for a diving holiday. He is lucky he was not among the 21 people who were seized on April 23 by Muslim guerillas from the nearby Philippines. Twenty are still being held for ransom in the Jolo islands by Abu Sayyaf Muslim extremists. A German woman, aged 57, was released yesterday. Last week 43 tourists, including two honeymoon couples - one from England, the other Australia - staying at the award-winning Turtle Island, came closer to heaven than they would have wished when it was overrun by villagers, some armed with knives, who dispute the land ownership. They locked themselves in their rooms and were later evacuated by a cruise ship. Suddenly holidays from hell are not restricted to backpackers and other shoestring travellers who stay in sleazy guest houses in politically unstable, underdeveloped countries, and risk being hijacked on board banana republic aircraft that have run out of spare parts. Rich tourists are becoming kidnap targets for guerilla groups who know they can use them as leverage to extort huge ransoms, gain political concessions and obtain worldwide publicity for their causes. Wealthy visitors to exotic destinations are also beginning to learn that the getaway they consider to be paradise can be just a poverty trap for seething, unemployed locals who are banned from beaches which have been developed by foreigners with the blessing of often corrupt politicians. In these tinderbox times, hostage-taking has escalated. It has reached such a level that the US State Department and the British Foreign Office have warned their respective citizens to avoid a total of 37 areas considered dangerous. They include Pakistan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Kashmir, Fiji, the Solomon Islands and certain parts of Sri Lanka. Also listed are places nationals are advised they can travel, but with caution. The latter include Laos, East Timor, Mali, Mozambique and Rwanda. A spokesman for the US Consulate in Hong Kong advises anyone who wants to check whether an intended destination is considered dangerous, to look up the Web site: http://travel.state.gov . The British Foreign Office site is at http://www.fco.gov.uk/travel . The US warns its citizens to avoid: Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Liberia, Sudan, Albania, Serbia-Montenegro, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Republic of Congo, and Democratic Republic of Congo. Nigeria, Algeria, Yemen, Tajik-istan, Colombia, Burundi, Somalia, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Angola, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Central African Republic and Guinea-Bissau are also on the list. The UK has warnings out against many of these, plus Comoros, Ecuador, India (Jammu and Kashmir), Indonesia (Maluku province), Namibia, the Philippines (Mindanao, southern Zamboanga peninsula and islands west of Mindanao), the Russian Federation (Chechen republic and north Caucasus), Sri Lanka (north and east) and Turkey (southeast). The latest incident in Fiji, in which locals stormed Turtle Island, which charges couples more than US$1,000 (HK$7,800) per night, has prompted leading travel agents in the SAR to warn clients to stay clear of the country and others where the risks are high. Experts indicate business travellers particularly need to watch their backs. 'There has been a specific rise in the number of cases of people being held hostage in business disputes, especially in mainland China,' says David Holloway, regional managing director for security advisers Kroll Associates. 'However, the motive is purely commercial gain, rather than furthering political ends.' The region's hot spots for such incidents include the Philippines and Indonesia. Brian Smith, general manager of Travel Advisers in Tsim Sha Tsui East, which offers soft adventure holidays worldwide, says: 'If a country is dangerous, don't go. Look at the travel advisories. It is stupid to go looking for trouble when there are lots of places to visit where there are no problems. Why go somewhere where they are brandishing AK-47s? 'We warn clients, if they are considering destinations which we believe are unsafe. We can't stop people going, but they should think not only of the possible dangers they put themselves into, but the worry that they may cause their families while they are away,' Smith says. 'Fiji looks like it is about to blow up. A lot of problems that have been suppressed in some countries are coming out into the open, after the rich have trampled on the poor.' Smith adds that Travel Advisers is also warning against trips to the southern Philippines. He also points out that land travel in Laos and Cambodia still poses dangers from bandits, not to mention land mines if tourists stray from the beaten track. Packed planes are still leaving the SAR for Sri Lanka, and though the civil war is mainly confined to the north, there is always the possibility of suicide bomb attacks. 'If there is a known trouble spot, then we keep in touch with our contacts in those areas for regular updates, which we pass on to clients. Travellers should be warned that their insurance can be negated if they go to such places,' Smith adds. Kidnap insurance - used mostly by businesspeople travelling to dangerous areas - is available from companies like American International Group, but premiums can be heavy depending on individual circumstances. Smith says there are other complications to keep in mind. 'You might be able to get into a place, but if things deteriorate you may not be able to leave. Airlines can cancel flights. But at the end of the day, the traveller has to make up his own mind.' Graham Elsom, managing director of Concorde Travel in Lan Kwai Fong, says business has completely dried up for Fiji, apart from one female client who insists upon going there for a diving holiday in spite of his advice. He echoed Smith's warning: 'There are plenty of safe places, so ignore the dangerous ones.' Elsom adds: 'The Philippines is sounding less and less attractive, and we are advising against going to Indonesia, excepting Bali.' Though the US still posts a warning against visiting Pakistan following last year's coup, Elsom says he understands the north has been free of problems for tourists. Ironically, Pakistan Airlines (PIA) started flying twice-weekly to Islamabad and Karachi in May this year, and Cathay Pacific will launch a new service to Karachi via Bangkok on September 1. Cathay believes the route will be popular with domestic and leisure travellers, and is already accepting bookings. Not unexpectedly, Imran Gardezi, vice-consul at the Consulate General of Pakistan in Hong Kong, disagrees with the warning put out by the US State Department. 'I see a lot of interest from Chinese people to visit Pakistan both in Hong Kong and on the mainland,' he says. 'With the change of government, Pakistan is more stable than before.' He adds that package tours are already being conducted in Karachi from Hong Kong, and that he has had talks with Cathay Pacific about developing tourism further there and in other areas of Pakistan. 'The last flight of PIA was fully booked.' Kashmir has also been condemned as dangerous to Britons by the British Foreign Office. Earlier this year a body that was exhumed there in 1997 was confirmed to be that of Briton Paul Wells, one of four foreign trekkers who have been missing since their abduction five years ago. Still missing are Donald Hutchings, an American, Keith Mangan, a Briton, and Derk Hasert, a German. Six tourists were taken hostage in that incident. An American, John Childs, escaped and Hans Christian Ostro, of Norway, was beheaded. In spite of the kidnapping, Mohammed Ashraf, Kashmir's director-general of tourism, says: 'These advisories are unfair. Advise caution, yes, that is fair, but don't tell people not to come here.' He says there have been no other incidents involving tourists. But there have been numerous other cases of tourists being taken hostage recently. December 1999: Five Kashmiri militants hijacked an Indian Airlines plane after it left Nepal, holding 160 hostages. One hostage was killed. August 1999: Drug traffickers held four Europeans in Iran. April 1999: Eight tourists were slaughtered by Rwandan rebels who seized 31 visitors to a national park famous for its gorillas in Uganda. December 1998: Four Britons were killed and others injured in Yemen when security forces stormed their kidnappers' hideout. The most serious attack on tourists in recent years was the massacre of 58 foreign tourists, at the Valley of the Queens in Luxor, Egypt, in November 1997, by Islamic militants. In spite of all the warnings, there are actually many tourists who purposely venture into war zones and areas of political unrest, for kicks. Robert Young Pelton publishes a guidebook for tourists who thrive on terror, entitled The World's Most Dangerous Places. Pelton keeps on the move, going to the latest trouble spots, to update his book. Meanwhile, the 20 hostages who were seized from Sipadan Resort enter their 87th day in captivity today, and American millionaire Richard Evanson, who owns the 200-hectare Turtle Island, where he lives, may feel a bit like Robinson Crusoe until he can persuade the rich to return. Additional reporting by Ed Peters