Surge in demand for Tunisia as Foreign Office relaxes travel warning
Demand for Tunisia is already surging 38% ahead of this time last year, according to holiday comparison website Cheapflights, which predicted a major comeback for the destination following a change in the Foreign Office travel advice.
It said its data shows that interest in the destination has been building steadily over the past 12 months, despite the Foreign Office warning against all but essential travel to Tunisia following the murder of 38 tourists, including 30 Britons, in the beach resort of Sousse in 2015.
Flight searches from London airports were up 67% from London airports and up 175% from Glasgow year on year before the Foreign Office amended its advice this week. It is now only warning against travel to certain parts of the south and interior and areas close to the borders with Algeria and Libya,
Cheapflights’ Phil Bloomfield said: "Tourist resorts such as Hammamet are now very much back on the map for UK holidaymakers, who will see the change in FCO advice as the lifting of a travel ban.
"We’ve already seen sustained growth in flight searches for Tunisia from major UK airports this year, so now the FCO has given Tunisia the green light, we expect Brits to search for and book flights in earnest."
UK tour operators including Thomson, Thomas Cook and Monarch said this week they were considering re-launching programmes to Tunisia but gave no indication of when.
Thomas Cook chief executive Peter Fankhauser suggested the change in the Foreign Office advice had come unexpectedly, taking the operator by surprise. The company said it would take time to consider its future programme.
However, Bloomfield said there was now the possibility of independent travel to Tunisia. "Although some major tour operators may not be able to put together packages for this summer, there are plenty of direct and indirect scheduled flights linking the UK to Tunisia and a wealth of hotel deals, which means Brits can enjoy the warm welcome and Med climate they’ve missed out on for two years."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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