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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think we should cancel our holiday to Tunisia?

282 replies

googlenut · 26/06/2015 22:26

So holiday booked to Sousse with Thomas Cooke. Member of the party include two 84 year olds and a child with autism. Not due to go to the end July but reckon we should just persuade TC to refund or reallocate to different country.

OP posts:
Buttercupsandaisies · 28/06/2015 20:04

Google I believe the tui group has only offered it to their german customers. I'm happy to be corrected though.

Only1scoop · 28/06/2015 20:10

I hope you get a full refund.

Jen1610 · 28/06/2015 20:18

My friend was in the hotel next to the one that was attacked. The builder that threw the slates on his head probably saves him going to her hotel as that's the direction he was headed.

There was an attack in March and one previously. In light of that, no I absolutely wouldn't be going. I believe Thomas Cook (or maybe its Thomson) have said they will change holidays to another destination up till September.

TokenGinger · 28/06/2015 21:23

Jen - was it the Royal Kenz?

AssembleTheMinions · 28/06/2015 21:31

No Tui are not amending after 31/7 at the moment if you care to check. It's on the website.

I will happily defend all the tour operators who are doing their very best under challenging circumstances.

Thomson had customers in those hotels so it was only right and proper that they took priority. There are only so many planes that can be called up on at short notice and as such, Thomson clients were brought home first.

Only1scoop · 28/06/2015 21:45

Assemble I understood the same re refunding procedure .... although Op seems to know more factual information.

Rockytoptennessee · 28/06/2015 21:51

BBC are now reporting that British deaths will be at least 30.

I really feel fir the relatives of those people who are 'missing' - waiting for the phone to ring with the worst news.

Only1scoop · 28/06/2015 21:54

Just read the same Hmm

Just so dreadfully sad. Cannot even imagine how those families are coping.

LIZS · 29/06/2015 08:24

TC spokesman on BBC Breakfast now. Guests until end of October can change bookings.

AmorVincitOmnia · 29/06/2015 09:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DoraGora · 29/06/2015 09:38

Interior minister isn't answering questions on why security wasn't sufficiently stepped up after the Bardo museum attack. I can't believe that no one in cabinet suggested it. So, presumably, the minister must have rejected the idea. He isn't sharing his reasons. The fact that he's still around doesn't bode well, either. In most countries he'd be spending more time with his family, after a performance like that. For the forseable future, I think Tunisia needs to be added to the list of basket cases. North Africa as a whole is looking dangerous, I'm afraid.

TokenGinger · 29/06/2015 09:43

Amor - I agree. They actually have guards on the hotel where I stayed - Royal Kenz. But one bullet through them means that the gunman would be able to get in regardless.

Sallyingforth · 29/06/2015 09:53

Who wants to stay in a resort with armed guards patrolling the beach? I think the minister made a tough but pragmatic decision.

TheHormonalHooker · 29/06/2015 10:00

I have to agree with everything Assemble has said. Of course TC are going to charge you to go to a more expensive place on holiday, they are a business not a charity.

First Choice and Thomson haven't brought all their customers back yet, there are still people in Tunisia desperate to get home. A woman was recording her conversation with the First Choice rep and it is was played on Sky news last night.

In light of what has happened I think the travel companies are trying their best. But right now their priorities have to be with the people who are travelling in the next few days and getting the people back from Tunisia.

At the end of the day 38 people have died, God knows how many have been injured and who knows how many are going to bare the psychological scars for years. I just can't imagine how they and their families are feeling.

DoraGora · 29/06/2015 10:05

We went to Egypt in the early Naughties, after a series of tourist attacks, and there were guards everywhere. Tour buses had an armed guard up front and a patrol behind. You get used to it after a couple of days.

TheOddity · 30/06/2015 12:07

I wouldn't go. Last time after the museum attack, mumsnet posters were advising people to go anyway as 'they wouldn't attack a beach resort', er.... Wrong! They will attack wherever they get the shock reaction, they will kill whoever they think helps their cause. I would no way put my children knowingly anywhere near harm if I had a choice, certainly not for a week of sunshine and a swimming pool. There is calculated risk (getting on an aeroplane for example) and foolishness. This is foolishness. You don't have a clue where they plan to attack and when. You just know Tunisia is a place where they attack tourists. I would extend it to Egypt too.

Supervet · 30/06/2015 12:15

I'm torn between

  • You can't let the bastards win
  • It could happen in any tourist place.
  • It's going to fuck up life for the locals who depend on it.

BUT honestly I wouldn't be able to relax on that beach.
I suffer from anxiety though and am more aware when I go to London/Manchester/Trafford Centre.Blush

Hoppinggreen · 30/06/2015 12:32

oddity I completely agree
There have often been people on here asking whether they should go to Tunisia or Egypt and some replies are always along the lines of " the resorts are a long way from any trouble" etc etc and people advising against it are alarmist.
I take absolutely no pleasure in being right about this, I feel for the families of the dead, the injured, the witnesses and the locals who will lose their jobs.

Hersetta427 · 30/06/2015 13:38

That women on sky news flew out of Tunsia that night. So shot her big mouth off about the hotel being packed with English people potentially making them all target and then flew home anyway.

Glad to hear though she was met at the airport by police who are questioning her about slander as the hotel have made a complaint.

We were going to Tunisia in August and now that TUI have said all UK customers can change without admin fees to 31/10 we changed this morning and are going to Cyprus. Was very sad to do it but we were going to the hotel where big mouth women was staying (and love it) so felt it might have been even more of a target so couldn't take the chance with the kids.

Scattymere · 30/06/2015 14:50

I saw pics on news today of the area and it’s a complete ghost town, all restaurants, bars deserted so eerie.
While I feel truly awful for the poor Tunisians who will be losing much need tourist trade (hopefully just the short term) I wouldn’t not go out of fear (as unlikely same thing would happen again/so soon) but more out of the pure eeriness of staying in a resort where mass murder took place so recently. How could you relax while on that same beach/nearby knowing full well what had recently gone on- it would just be constantly playing over in your mind.

BubGal13 · 30/06/2015 14:53

Hersetta427 can you explain please- which woman on Sky was this?

Hersetta427 · 30/06/2015 14:59

Women did an interview with sky news on sunday saying they wanted to leave tunisia but were not allowed to by FC. They felt too scared to leave the complex (felt safe enough to go to hotel gates to get her 5 minutes of fame though). She also filmed reps saying they didn't have flights yet as they were prioritizing (quite rightly) the people in sousse.

Also named the hotel and said it was full of English guests. Really irresponsible of her and sky news to be honest.

Good job she did fly out that night as I heard she was going to be lynched at breakfast by the guests who chose to remain as they felt like she had put them in danger.

Sickoffrozen · 30/06/2015 15:59

Time can certainly heal the industry. Sharm el sheikh was hit by a terrorist bomb in 2005 that killed 88 people, including 11 Britons and is now one of the most popular destinations for UK tourists. In 2006, 10 Britons were injured in a triple bomb attack in Marmaris, Turkey. Another very popular destination. In 1997 35 uk and Irish tourists were injured following an ETA bombing of Rues airport in Spain.

All places can and will recover. Unfortunately it will take time and this is something that the Tunisian workers may not have. The ISIS hope is that more disenchanted young people will join their ranks.

LIZS · 30/06/2015 16:07

www.thomascook.com/travel-updates/

Op , hopefully you have now been able to rearrange your trip without any admin charges.

Aermingers · 30/06/2015 16:12

I think the response by the authorities has been pretty poor too, dead still not identified, there is confusion over how many gunmen there were and it seems there is a distinct possibility the fact there was two has been hushed up, potentially because he was still at large.

And the fact the Libyan border was porous enough for at least one of the terrorists to slip across the border undetected - it's just not safe. I feel sorry for the Tunisians but I just wouldn't take the chance.

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