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FCO lifts travel ban to most of Tunisia

The Foreign Office has changed its advice against travelling to most of Tunisia, including the capital Tunis and beach resort Sousse.

In a statement on the FCO website it no longer advises against travel to Tunisia, “except for parts of the south and interior and certain areas near the borders with Algeria and Libya”.

Most of the country has returned to the government’s ‘green’ colour code meaning people should seek advice before travel.

Other areas in the south and west of the country remain in either red, which advises against all travel, and orange, which advises against all but essential travel.

Thomson and First Choice said it would now look to re-introduce the destination.

A spokeswoman from parent company Tui said: “Thomson and First Choice follow the FCO’s advice for all destinations we operate to. As the overall level of advice has now changed for Tunisia, we will look at whether we will re-introduce the destination for future seasons, which will also take in to account customer demand.”

A spokesman from Thomas Cook 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 have any further news.”

Sami Tounsi, trade manager for the Tunisian National Tourist Office said: “We’re overwhelmed by this great news and it represents a great excuse for a big party in Tunisia.

“All I want to say is a big thank you to all travel agents for their strongest belief and support of Tunisia.

“This is down to a tremendous cooperation between the UK and Tunisian governments.”

The FCO still states there is a heightened risk of terrorism against aviation and will continue to implement additional security measures in the country.

A state of emergency is currently in effect in Tunisia which was imposed in November 2015 following a suicide attack on a police bus.

A terrorist attack at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Sousse saw 39 people killed, including 30 British tourists.

In figures published by the Tunisia National Tourist office on Tuesday July 25, it stated tourist levels were up 46.2% from January to May, compared to last year.

The total number of tourist arrivals in this period was 1,527,891, with 8,943 of these from Britain.

A spokesman for Abta said: “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.

“The FCO advice states that ‘the UK government has been working closely with the Tunisian authorities to investigate the attack and the wider threat from terrorist groups. The Tunisian government has improved protective security in major cities and tourist resorts’.

“Abta and its members rely on the informed expertise of the FCO in relation to travel advice regarding specific destinations and will always advise the travelling public to follow this advice.

“Holidaymakers should always check this advice before booking or travelling to a destination.”

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