British holidaymakers are safe to return to Tunisia as travel advice is relaxed, Foreign Office says

Massacre: A policeman patrols the beach after the terrorist attack in Sousse
Steve Parsons / PA Wire
Francesca Gillett26 July 2017

British holidaymakers are safe to return to Tunisia, the Foreign Office has said.

Two years on from the horrific massacre in the popular holiday resort of Sousse, the Government has changed its official advice and said UK tour operators can resume selling holidays to the north African country.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has advised against all but essential visits to the country for the past two years following the June 2015 beach attack in which 30 Britons were killed.

But on Wednesday the FCO said it has withdrawn the advice for the capital Tunis and major tourist resorts.

The UK continues to advise against "all travel" and "all but essential travel" to some areas of the country, including those nearer the Libyan border.

The FCO said it has kept its assessment of the risks of British nationals travelling to Tunisia "under constant review" since the Sousse attack, considering the threat from terrorism and improvements in the Tunisian security forces.

Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Alistair Burt, said: "Our travel advice aims to help people make their own informed decisions about foreign travel.

Holidaymakers lay flowers on the beach, where 38 people were killed in a terrorist attack in June 2015.
Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

“Advice for Tunisia and for every country is regularly reviewed.

"This update reflects our latest assessment that the risk to British nationals in Tunisia has changed.

"This is in part due to the security improvements that the Tunisian authorities and tourist industry have made since the tragic terrorist attacks in 2015, with support from the UK and international partners.

"Whilst we are changing advice against all but essential travel in most of Tunisia, there remain real risks for British nationals and I recommend people read our travel advice before planning their travel."

Some 440,000 people from the UK visited Tunisia in 2014, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Demand was reportedly even higher during the following year, until the Sousse attack in which gunman Seifeddine Rezgui killed a total of 38 tourists. Terror group Islamic State claimed responsibility.

The Tunisian National Tourist Office in the UK warned last year that the Government's refusal to relax its travel advice was allowing the perpetrators to believe they were "on the winning side".

Tarek Aouadi, then-director of the tourist office, said a third of his home country's hotels had closed due to the reduction in tourism.

He said: "Tunisia shouldn't be penalised because very hurtful, criminal people wanted to damage its economy."

There have been no terrorist incidents targeting foreign tourists in Tunisia since the Sousse attack, the FCO said.

The change in travel advice brings the UK into line with several other countries including the US, France, Italy and Germany.

A Thomas Cook spokesman said: "We're pleased that the Foreign Office has taken this decision to open Tunisia back up to Brits.

"It's great for Tunisia, which used to welcome many thousands of British holidaymakers.

"We'll take a bit of time to look at how and when we put this once-popular destination back on sale and we will update our customers when we have any further news."

Trade organisation Abta said in a statement: "This change in level of travel advice means that travel to Tunisia can now resume and travel companies can put in place plans for holidays to Tunisia to restart, should they wish to do so."

Additional reporting by Press Association.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in