For thousands of UK tourists sent home, why Tunisia anyway?
Cliffside villages. Breathtaking souqs. The ruins of ancient Carthage.聽
These are some of the sights thousands of tourists waved goodbye to as they packed up to leave Tunisia on Friday, hours after the United Kingdom warned that another terrorist attack was 鈥渉ighly likely,鈥� accelerating British evacuation efforts and singeing diplomatic relations with the country.
Millions of tourists have long flocked to the North African nation, citing its 听补苍诲 Alongside the Libyans, French, Algerians, and Germans, Britons compose one of the largest groups, with somewhere between 聽each year, according to the National Office of Tunisian Tourism.
It is not nearly as popular with American tourists, who come in numbers .
Dangers of the Arab Spring a few years ago led to a temporary dry-out for Tunisia鈥檚 tourism industry, but 2013 saw a 聽in particular, Tunisia鈥檚 tourism board told The Daily Mail. Travelers in March were also shaken by an attack on the prestigious National Bardo Museum that left 22 people 鈥� mostly foreigners 鈥� dead.
But that didn鈥檛 stop at least聽 this week on package holidays, according to The Independent.
Tour companies had already been making plans to airlift its customers and staff back home since an alleged Islamic State gunman killed 38 tourists at a beach resort in Sousse two weeks ago. Of the victims, 30 hailed from the UK, making it the largest loss of British lives in such an attack since London鈥檚 7/7 bombings.
But on Saturday, President Beji Caid Essebsi declared an official state of emergency, expanding the military鈥檚 scope of operations and banning large public assemblies.
Later in the week, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond announced:聽鈥淪ince the attack in Sousse, the intelligence and threat picture has developed considerably, leading us to the view that a further terrorist attack is highly likely,鈥�
Some tourists said they were angry to have their vacations cut short. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a disgrace,鈥� Tracey Caburn said to upon arriving back in the UK. 鈥淲e got called last night at 11.30 p.m. saying they wanted everybody out.鈥�
鈥淚 feel safer here than I ever have in London,鈥� declared Myles Roberts, who was also on holiday in Tunisia, to The Mirror. 鈥淭here are nine security guards with machine guns around my hotel, there鈥檚 a speedboat patrolling up and down with a machine gun on that too.鈥�
The warning also raised tensions between the UK and Tunisia, whose ambassador to London Nabil Ammar warned British parliament Thursday that repercussions were in store,
鈥淭his is what the terrorists want,鈥� Mr. Ammar on Thursday. He lamented the economic damage inflicted to the tourism sector, adding that it wouldn鈥檛 be contained to those businesses alone. 鈥淪o many sectors are linked. It鈥檚 not 7 percent of the GDP only. It鈥檚 because it鈥檚 linked to so many other sectors 鈥� transport, health services, whatever. So all those services will be hit.鈥�
But Tunisia鈥檚 Prime Minister Habib Essid adopted a more pacifying tone, declaring that the country would to protect British interests, reported Reuters. He added that he would call UK Prime Minister David Cameron to personally offer assurances on the safety of tourists.
Travelers like Mr. Roberts are waiting. Once the travel warning changes, he will return to Tunisia, he told聽.
