Tui doubles winter holidays to Sousse in Tunisia, three years after terrorist attack

Tourists are slowly returning to the coastal resort where 30 British holidaymakers were killed in 2015

British tour operators are returning to Sousse (Getty Images)

Tui has doubled its offering to Sousse in Tunisia three and a half years after 30 British tourists were killed in a terror attack while on one of its package holidays there.

The UK’s biggest tour operator only started selling holidays to the resort again this summer, with three hotels available.

This is doubling to six hotels for Tui’s winter programme: Marhaba Beach Hotel, Marhaba Salem Hotel, Royal Kenz Hotel, Sensimar Scheherazade, Tour Khalef and The Pearl Resort and Spa. There will also be extra flights from Gatwick and Manchester, with capacity for 10,000 more people in total.

Its summer 2019 offering will see an additional 37,000 seats to Tunisia on flights from Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, East Midlands, Glasgow, Luton, Newcastle and Doncaster Sheffield.

“The interest in this popular year-round destination has resulted in an increased programme, with eight regional airports flying to Enfidha next summer and capacity increasing by 50 per cent for winter 2019,” said Tui UK managing director Andrew Flintham.

“We will continue to follow Foreign Office advice for all destinations we operate to as well as referencing the FCO Travel Aware campaign across our website, customer documentation and in our stores and encourage everyone to check the FCO website regularly for the latest travel information.”

The FCO removed Tunisia from its no-go list in July 2017 and rival tour operator Thomas Cook started selling packages there in February 2018.

It launched its programme with three flights a week from Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham, offering a range of hotels in the long-established resort of Hammamet. Thomas Cook has a choice of four Sousse holidays for 2019.

The FCO advice states: “Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Tunisia and there have been a number of attacks in recent years.

“A state of emergency – in effect since a suicide attack on a police bus on 24 November 2015 – has been extended several times, most recently on 5 November 2018 by one month.”

However, although the FCO advises against travel to near the Libyan and Algerian borders, the majority of the country, including tourist resorts, is no longer off limits.