Alistair Burt, the British minister of state for the Middle East and North Africa, announced July 26 that his country is no longer advising its citizens against flying to Tunisia, including the capital and most resorts. In June 2015, Britain warned its nationals against traveling to Tunisia following the terrorist attack on a beach resort in Sousse, east of Tunis. British travel companies resumed their flights to Tunisia July 28.

On June 26, 2015, Tunisian national and Islamic State member Seifeddine Rezgui attacked a hotel on the beach in Sousse, killing 38 people, including 30 British tourists.

The attack dealt a heavy blow to Tunisia’s tourism sector, as several European nations warned their citizens not to travel to Tunisia over fears of being targeted by other terrorist operations. Britain considered the security measures the Tunisian government adopted not strong enough to protect tourists. Since then, Tunisia has been trying to convince the British government to cancel its warning.

Independent journalist Sharif Zaytouni told Al-Monitor, “In reality, the British decision came a little late as the security situation in Tunisia had improved more than a year ago, one year after the Sousse terror attack. Although Tunisian authorities declared that it would protect all foreign visitors, Britain was reluctant to lift its warning. Tourism agencies took this British advisory into consideration, and British travel giant the Thomas Cook Group canceled all its flights to Tunisia since the advisory was issued in July 2015. But only two days after Britain announced lifting the warning, the group resumed all its flights to Tunisia on July 28.”