British tour operators cancel all Tunisia summer holidays

Three major package holiday operators have cancelled all summer holidays to Tunisia, causing disruption for thousands of Britons, The Telegraph reported Wednesday.

Thomas Cook and Thomson had previously been selling cut-price trips to beach resorts in the north African country to be taken between May and October, including to hotels near the Sousse resort where a gunman shot 38 tourists dead last summer.

Thomson on Friday cancelled "further outbound flights" to Tunisia until October 31, as protests continued across the country and a curfew was maintained. The country is currently in an official state of emergency, which will last until at least February 21. Thirty-three of the victims of the Sousse attack were customers of Thomson or sister company First Choice, which has also now also cancelled all upcoming Tunisia trips.

Thomas Cook followed suit on Monday , saying on its website that it had taken the decision to cancel all bookings to Tunisia up to and including 31 October 2016. Internet users who try to book a trip for summer 2016 are met with the following message:

The company said: "We appreciate that this may be frustrating for our customers who have been looking forward to their holiday.

The latest cancellations are likely to further damage Tunisia's fragile tourism industry which has suffered as a result of political instability and attacks claimed by Daesh, including a shooting at the Bardo Museum last March, and the Sousse attack.