Former TUI director quizzed at Tunisia inquests

TUI did not carry out a security review of its hotels in Tunisia even after tourists were gunned down by terrorists at the capital’s Bardo museum in May 2015, an inquest into the deaths of 30 British holidaymakers heard.

Giving evidence to the inquest yesterday, Fraser Ellacott, TUI’s customer operations director at the time of the Sousse massacre, claimed hotel security was not a matter for tour operators.

He said that although customers’ health and safety fell within his remit at TUI, where he worked until last June, he did not consider this included hotel security.

"The matter of security is a very specialist nature and something that was very much to be undertaken in specific locations by the hoteliers who were responsible, local law enforcement and the governments of those countries and our Government," he said.

"It was not felt, other than that clearly extreme situation with Egypt, for UI to undertake any specialist auditing function, as a general point."

The inquest into the deaths of 30 British holidaymakers who were among 38 gunned down by a terrorist in Sousse in June 2015 heard that the hotel where they were killed had no more than six to eight security cameras, none of which were pointing at the beach or the swimming pool.

Also, it had no CCTV monitoring room.

Of 10 other hotels that were checked in Sousse shortly after the attack, six had 20 to 40 CCTV cameras and at least one monitoring room.

Andrew Ritchie QC, questioning Ellacott on behalf of the families of 22 of the deceased, produced at day 15 of the hearing a copy of ABTA’s Technical Guidance, which he referred to as the Blue Book.

Section 8 of the guidance is to ‘assist tourism accommodation providers and other associated suppliers identify the core security facilities and measures that would be provided in tourism accommodation,’ Ritchie told the hearing.

When Ellacott repeated that TUI considered security was ‘so specialist in its nature’ that it was left to those in the country to determine levels of cover, Ritchie said: "So your view was that you didn’t have to comply with this, TUI, you didn’t have to impose this or audit it, others should do it?"

"Security was very plainly, within our business, the responsibility of the hoteliers and the local police and the governments, as I have said," replied Ellacott. "So it was felt that was clearly the responsibility of them to ensure that it was of adequate standard.

"It was so specialist in its nature across that across the world that was something for them to undertake."
Ellacott said he and the rest of the TUI board were unaware of the Imperial Marhaba’s lack of CCTV coverage. Had it come to the attention of the board, he said it ‘probably would have been a concern that would have enacted a conversation with the hotelier’.

The hearing heard that the Tunisia Ministry of Tourism had sent a letter to hotels after the attack at the Bardo museum calling on them to tighten security, specifically ‘to install a CCTV camera system, designate a control room to operate it and appoint someone to be in charge of it’.

When asked by Ritchie what TUI would have done if it had seen the letter and known that the Imperial Marhaba was not complying, Ellacott would only say: "We absolutely, I am sure, would have had a discussion. It is likely that we would have taken some steps. I cannot possibly say what those steps would have been, but we would have taken some steps."

The letter from the Ministry of Tourism also called for hotels to install guards at all entrances and to permanently guard beach strips 24-hours a day. The Imperial Marhaba didn’t have permanent guards at its two beach entrances and the beach guard doubled as a ‘cushion man’. Ellacott said he was unaware permanent guarding was required but was not being provided at the hotel.

The inquest was adjourned until February 23.