Travel firms cancel trips to Syria
Tour operators have been forced to cancel holidays to Syria following a change of advice from the Foreign Office which ruled the country unsafe for holidays.
Its latest travel advisory warns against all but essential travel to Syria, the latest country in the Middle East to be hit by political and social unrest. A number of people have been killed in recent days.
Adventure travel specialist Explore said it was trying to get holidaymakers out of Syria "as quickly as possible", although the Foreign Office has not recommended Britons leave the country.
Customers who booked flights with Explore have been flown back to London today and the operator is assisting customers who booked flights independently.
The operator has re-jigged several of its tours of the Middle East to cut out Syria and cancelled all holidays to the country up to and including April 28. It said it would review the situation on Monday April 18.
Other tour operators offering holidays to Syria include Kuoni, which has two tours, Cox & Kings and Bales Worldwide. Operators cannot go against the Foreign Office advice and continue to operate holidays to the country as customers will find it difficult if not impossible to buy adequate travel insurance.
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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