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Thomas Cook resumes Tunisia holidays after UK lifts ban
British travel group Thomas Cook, one of the world's biggest tour operators, said it would resume organising holidays to Tunisia, more than two years after a terror attack in which 38 people were killed.
“At the end of July this year, the UK government changed its advice for Tunisia meaning that British holidaymakers can now travel to the majority of the country,” Carol MacKenzie, head of customer welfare at Thomas Cook said in a blog post late on Tuesday.
“As a result, and reflecting the interest we’ve had from customers, we are restarting our flight and holiday programme from 13 February next year.
“We’re starting in just a few resorts, mainly near to Hammamet, and only eight hotels, where we’re confident we can offer the high quality our customers expect,” she added.
Thomas Cook brought more than 200,000 British tourists to Tunisia in 2014 across the summer and winter seasons.
The travel group suspended its holidays to Tunisia in June 2015 after a gunman killed 38 people, including 30 British tourists, in a shooting spree in the resort town of Sousse, in the north-east of Tunisia.
The attack came three months after two gunmen shot dead 22 people at the National Bardo Museum in Tunis and prompted the British government to advise its citizens against all travel in the country.
Britain’s Foreign Office (FCO) relaxed its stance late last month noting that the “Tunisian government has improved protective security in major cities and tourist resorts”.
However, it continues to advise against all travel to southern Tunisia, along the border with Libya.
It also advises against all but essential travel along the western border with Algeria.
“Terrorists are still likely to try to carry out attacks in Tunisia. Security forces remain on a high state of alert in Tunis and other places,” said the Foreign Office travel advice.
