Serbia Warns Citizens Not to Holiday in Tunisia

Serbia's Foreign Ministry has told Serbian tourists not to go on holiday in Tunisia, arguing that after the recent terror attack there, and the introduction of state of emergency on July 4, "the risk of new terrorist attacks" remains concerning.

Serbs already in Tunisia are told to avoid excursions and places of mass gatherings, and keep in touch with their travel agencies as well as with the Serbian embassy.

They should be ready to leave Tunisia if there is any further deterioration in the security situation, the press release said.

The advice came after an Islamist gunman, Seifeddine Rezgui, shot dead 38 people on a beach in the resort of Sousse on June 26. Islamic State has since claimed responsibility for the attack. An earlier attack in March on the Bardo Museum in the capital, Tunis, left 23 dead.

Following the latest attack, 61 Serbian tourists returned on a government-organized flight. However, a new group of 45 Serbian tourists went out to Tunisia the same day.

According to Serbian tour agencies, interest in holidays in Tunisia has dropped off sharply since the gunman's killing spree but only half the existing arrangements have been canceled.

Aleksandar Senicic, director of the National Association of Tourism Agencies, YUTA, told BIRN that many people still want to go to Tunisia as they have already paid for their vacations there.

"Many tourists can't get their money back anyway, so they have to cooperate with domestic and foreign agencies in order to find a compromise and get redirected to some other arrangements," Senicic said.

Meanwhile, British tourists are being flown back from Tunisia despite the complaints by the Tunisian ambassador to the UK that the British government is giving in to the terrorists....