Firms sell Tunisia trips despite alert

Anyone can book holidays to the same resort where three members of a Black Country family were gunned down, without prominent warnings of the risk of another attack, the Express & Star has found.

Although Thomas Cook, Thomson and First Choice websites do carry details of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advice, customers have to click on a series of links and could book a holiday in the resort without being told of the danger.

The companies are taking bookings to Port El Kantaoui and nearby Sousse where 19-year-old Joel Richards and Patrick Evans, 78, from Wednesbury, Adrian Evans, aged 49 from Bilston, and Sue Davey, originally from West Bromwich, were gun downed by ISIS fanatic Seifeddine Rezgui.

One MP described the situation as 'unacceptable' while another has called for a 'dignified pause' on the bookings.

The operators are selling holidays to the resorts due to fly out from November 1 – but there is a high possibility they will be cancelled with the Government advice against travel unlikely to change.

Current FCO advice remains against all but essential travel to Tunisia.

Both companies said they would only re-instate travel once it was safe and stated that information about the situation in Tunisia is available on their websites – but the Express & Star found this required customers to click on various links away from the advertised holidays.

West Bromwich West MP Adrian Bailey, whose constituents were killed in the attack, said that it was 'unacceptable' that there was no 'prominent' advice on the website bookings.

He said: "Anyone going on holiday in Tunisia should be made aware of the Foreign Office advice and referred to it by the travel operators.

"It is completely unacceptable not to have prominent warnings on the main parts of the booking website. Customers should not be expected to go trawling the websites to find important and essential advice."

Prices to the Sousse area in November start from as little as £181 per person for a week.

Thomas Cook and TUI, which owns Thomson and First Choice, said they had cancelled all summer holiday booking until October 31 following the FCO advice.

TUI said there were links to the FCO advice under 'essential information' on its Tunisia page, and that it formed part of the terms and conditions. There is also a small link on the top of the homepage called 'Tunisia Update' with information about cancelled holidays.

Thomas Cook said customers could find advice on Tunisia by going to the 'Customer Support' tab on its homepage and by searching for Tunisia in a search bar.

Mr Bailey said: "This attack was designed to undermine a fledgling democracy in Tunisia and disrupt its development.

"By banning tourism completely you would let the terrorists win.

"But while the Foreign Office is advising against travel, operators should make sure that holidaymakers are fully aware of that advice. The appropriate warnings need to be there and they need to be prominent.

"It is unacceptable to have warnings that are not immediately obvious to the customer."

And South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson said: "We don't want the terrorists to win and when Tunisia is a safe country for people to visit we all want to see people go and take their holidays there again.

"But to be selling holidays while there is Foreign Office advice against travelling to Tunisia is barking mad. Until the Foreign Office lifts this advice the travel companies should take a long and dignified pause before taking bookings.

"It is ridiculous that they are taking bookings for holidays which are 90 per cent likely to be cancelled as there looks to be no immediate change in sight regarding the Foreign Office's advice."

The attack in June saw 30 Britons lose their lives.

The FCO advice states: "Although we have had good co-operation from the Tunisian government, including putting in place additional security measures, the intelligence and threat picture has developed considerably, reinforcing our view that a further terrorist attack is highly likely. On balance, we do not believe the mitigation measures in place provide adequate protection for British tourists in Tunisia at the present time."

A Thomas Cook spokesman said: "Currently for those due to travel from November 1, 2015 onwards, normal booking conditions apply, but we will look at individual concerns on a case-by-case basis.

"Thomas Cook can assure customers that we will only re-instate travel to Tunisia from the UK when the FCO advises that it is safe to travel and following our own independent safety and security audit. We would like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding and can assure them that we are collectively trying to reach a decision on future travel by September 1, 2015. We would like to reiterate that customers can rest assured that their safety is always of paramount importance."