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| Tunisia hotel attack Q&A: The key questions after the atrocity in the seaside town of Sousse | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Following today’s atrocity at a beachside hotel in Tunisia, in which at least 28 people died, Simon Calder looks at some of the key questions the attack raises. | Following today’s atrocity at a beachside hotel in Tunisia, in which at least 28 people died, Simon Calder looks at some of the key questions the attack raises. |
| The Foreign Office has set up a special helpline: 020 7208 1500. | The Foreign Office has set up a special helpline: 020 7208 1500. |
| Advice for family and friends of Thomson/First Choice customers is available here: bit.ly/ThomTun | Advice for family and friends of Thomson/First Choice customers is available here: bit.ly/ThomTun |
| The primary concern is with the families of the victims, and the other holidaymakers who were caught up in the attack. The assumption is that they will all want to return home as soon as possible. | |
| The holiday companies - notably the two big tour operators, Thomson and Thomas Cook - are urgently organising an airlift in cooperation with the Foreign Office and the Tunisian authorities. The timing is difficult, because it’s the start of a very busy weekend, and they will be aiming to charter in aircraft in order to bring those directly affected home as quickly as possible. | The holiday companies - notably the two big tour operators, Thomson and Thomas Cook - are urgently organising an airlift in cooperation with the Foreign Office and the Tunisian authorities. The timing is difficult, because it’s the start of a very busy weekend, and they will be aiming to charter in aircraft in order to bring those directly affected home as quickly as possible. |
| Abta, the travel association, estimates there are 20,000 British tourists on package holidays to Tunisia right now; in addition there are likely to be several thousand more on independent trips. | Abta, the travel association, estimates there are 20,000 British tourists on package holidays to Tunisia right now; in addition there are likely to be several thousand more on independent trips. |
| Last year, 424,000 British travellers went to Tunisia, and a similar number was expected for 2015. Assuming normal sales profiles, that means around a quarter-million people are booked to travel to the country this year - the vast majority to resorts such as Sousse, south of the capital. | Last year, 424,000 British travellers went to Tunisia, and a similar number was expected for 2015. Assuming normal sales profiles, that means around a quarter-million people are booked to travel to the country this year - the vast majority to resorts such as Sousse, south of the capital. |
| Abta, the travel association says: “Those due to travel today and tomorrow should contact their tour operator or airline. Those travelling at a later date are strongly advised to wait for further updates as phone lines are likely to be busy." | |
| Monarch and its holiday partner, Cosmos, was the first holiday firm to offer customers travelling to Tunisia in the next week option to postpone their trips or switch destinations; details at bit.ly/MonarchCosmos | |
| When the scale of the tragedy is fully assessed, in my view it is likely that the Foreign Office will shortly warn against all but essential travel to Tunisia, thereby obliging holiday companies to bring people home as swiftly as possible. Anyone who stays, or decided to travel out against that advice, will see their travel insurance invalidated. |