TUI has announced it will cancel all holidays to Sri Lanka following advice from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) amid growing political and instability in the country.
Earlier this week the Foreign Office advised against any Brits taking unessential travel to Sri Lanka after an outbreak of strikes swept the Asian nation. TUI has now said all holidays booked until July 18 will no longer be going ahead as a result.
A TUI spokesperson said: "Due to the ongoing political and economic instability in Sri Lanka, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) have advised against all but essential travel.
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"As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel all holidays to Sri Lanka departing up to and including 18 July 2022. We will be proactively contacting all impacted customers in departure date order to discuss their options.
"We will continue to monitor the situation and update customers should there be any further updates. We would like to thank our customers for their understanding at this time."
The company added that travellers transiting through Sri Lanka's international airport and customers still in resort are not affected.
Protests and violence have swept Sri Lanka in recent weeks due to the rising costs of essential goods such as medicine, cooking gas, fuel and food with many of the nation's population unable to meet their basic needs. It is believed to be the country's most severe financial crisis in seven decades as the Sri Lankan rupee plummets in value.
The country's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced this week that the country has effectively gone bankrupt. While discussing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, he told Parliament: "We are now participating in the negotiations as a bankrupt country. Therefore, we have to face a more difficult and complicated situation than previous negotiations.
"Due to the state of bankruptcy our country is in, we have to submit a plan on our debt sustainability to (the IMF) separately," he added. "Only when they are satisfied with that plan can we reach an agreement at the staff level.
"This is not a straightforward process."
In an update to travel advice on Tuesday, the FCO warned: " The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advises against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka, due to the impact of the current economic crisis. This advice does not apply to airside transit through Sri Lanka’s international airport.
"Sri Lanka is experiencing a severe economic crisis which has led to shortages of basic necessities including medicines, cooking gas, fuel and food. There is a major shortage of fuel (diesel and petrol) affecting transport, businesses, and emergency services.
"There are daily power cuts due to electricity rationing. This has led to protests and violent unrest. Further protests, demonstrations, roadblocks and violent unrest could occur at short notice."
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