But Tunisia stands apart in British eyes due to the shootings in Sousse in 2015. Where the victims in Marrakech and Sharm el-Sheikh were predominantly French and Russian respectively, 30 of the 38 people killed in the Port El Kantaoui resort area on that June day were from the UK.
The attack obliterated the British holiday market in Tunisia; an effective ban on Britons visiting Tunisia, introduced almost overnight by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), was upheld for more than two years, ensuring that there was no reconnection until late in 2017. Even now, the harm isn’t fully repaired. That figure of 145,000 British visitors to Tunisia in 2022 is less than a third of the half-million (497,000) who flew in in 2014.
However, it is also an improvement. Covid is as big a factor in its relative lowness as the lingering aftershocks of 2015. And if 145,000 is still somewhat short of the 196,000 British visitors to Tunisia in the rebound year of 2018 – and considerably down on the 378,000 of resurgent 2019 – then it vastly exceeds the 18,000 of pandemic-stymied 2021.
There have been other factors, too, beyond Tunisia’s control. Not least the collapse of the Thomas Cook Group – which accounted for a fair proportion of the British package-holiday market – in September 2019. Although the brand has been reborn as a phoenix company, the successor airline, Sunclass, is a Scandinavian carrier – which does not fly to Tunisia.
Even here, though, there are green shoots. While Thomas Cook was the first major tour operator to return to Tunisia after the FCDO ban was lifted, its biggest rival also entered the fray in 2018. Tui now offers Tunisian package breaks from 11 British airports (including Belfast, as of May next year) – competing with easyJet, which will provide a similar service from five UK departure points once Birmingham joins the club in March.
Source link : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/africa/tunisia/in-defence-of-tunisia-winter-sun/
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Publish date : 2023-10-01 07:00:00
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