TUI has cancelled holidays to Sri Lanka until the end of May after the Foreign Office changed its advice warning Brits not to visit the country unless it's absolutely necessary.
The island has been facing an economic crisis with shortages of medicine, fuel and food, as well as daily power cuts due to electricity rationing.
As a result, protests have been taking place since the end of March, and earlier this month a State of Emergency and nationwide curfew were put in place. The Foreign Office warns that "several incidents took place on 9 May involving violence against peaceful protesters" on May 9 including areas in Colombo and Kandy, and that "further incidents could take place".
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Due to the ongoing unrest, the Foreign Office now advises against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka, prompting TUI to cancel holidays until May 31.
The travel giant has said that it will be cancelling holidays and contacting customers in "departure date order".
A statement issued on the travel giant's website explains: "Due to the ongoing political and economic instability in Sri Lanka, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) have advised against all but essential travel.
"As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel all holidays to Sri Lanka departing up to and including 31 May 2022.
"We will be proactively contacting all impacted customers in departure date order to discuss their options.
"Please note this advice does not apply to customers transiting through Sri Lanka’s international airport and customers currently in resort can continue to enjoy their holiday as planned.
"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."
Typically when the Foreign Office advises against travel, firms offer options such as rebooking to a different date or opting for the same dates but an alternative destination.
When a company cancels your holiday, you are also entitled to a refund, if this is the option you would prefer.
It's worth noting that if you choose to travel against Foreign Office advice, your travel insurance will be void - so if anything goes wrong such as lost luggage, you could end up having to fork out some hefty costs.
