News

Kuoni suspends trips to Mombasa

Kuoni has temporarily halted trips to Mombasa while other operators have cancelled bookings for the next fortnight or changed itineraries in the wake of last week’s upgraded travel advisory.

Thomson and First Choice evacuated around 500 holidaymakers and cancelled all flights to Mombasa until November following the Foreign and Commonwealth Office warning against travel to the coastal city of Mombasa and beaches nearby.

The alert came ahead of bombings in the capital Nairobi on Friday that killed at least 10 people and injured 70 others.

The attacks were reportedly inspired by al-Shabaab, the terrorist group based in neighbouring Somalia.

The media wing of al-Shabaab released a video on YouTube two days earlier in which the group’s leader Ahmed Abdi Godane demanded revenge for the deaths of two radical preachers believed to have been assassinated by Kenyan police.

The film, which has English subtitles, makes reference to Britain, France and America. All three countries changed their travel advice to tourists on the day the video emerged, the Times reported on Saturday.

The FCO advice warns against all but essential travel to Mombasa Island and a 5km strip of the coast, as well as to poor areas of Nairobi and anywhere within 60km of the Kenya-Somali border.

Kuoni said: “Although the advice does not include Moi international airport, Diani beach or Malindi, the main road to access these resorts goes through the restricted area defined by the FCO advice. This means that we are no longer able to offer holidays to the Kenyan coast at present.

“Kuoni’s operations team will contact all customers who are due to travel in the next 14 days. This will continue on a rolling basis until the FCO advice changes.

“Any customers that are travelling from the UK within the next 14 days with an itinerary that includes the Kenyan coast are able to cancel free of charge or amend to an alternative destination with no administration fee but at the applicable cost.

“For any customers who are travelling to other parts of Kenya on safari or staying in a lodge and don’t have Mombasa included in their itinerary, they will not be affected by the current FCO advice and holidays will continue as normal.”

Thomson and First Choice have offered to refund cancelled trips or arrange holidays to alternative destinations.

Nigel Vere Nicoll, chief executive of the African Travel & Tourism Association said: “There is no doubt this is going to affect tourism for the Mombasa area; however it is incredibly important that tour operators and consumers are aware that the majority of the Kenya coast, as well as all international airports and safari circuits, continue to operate as normal. In particular holidaymakers continue to enjoy the popular resorts of Diani, Malindi, Watamu, Kilifi and Lamu.”

Kenya Tourism Board managing director Muriithi Ndegwa said: “We are indeed disappointed by the FCO’s decision to enforce this advice against non-essential travel to some areas of Mombasa.

“We will work tirelessly with the British government to demonstrate the enhanced security in place to ensure the safety of British visitors.”

Ben Morison, managing director of Imagine Africa, said: “We have lots of customers due to travel to Kenya in the next few weeks and, as always, many are choosing to combine safari and beach, staying in the coastal areas of Diani and Msambweni.

“We are confident these customers will continue with their plans undeterred, enjoying their holiday to the south coast, where tourism continues to thrive as usual. Consumer demand for Kenya continues and we’ve even taken some new bookings for holidays to Kenya in the coming weeks.”

Somak chief executive Ash Sofat said: “We have contacted all our holidaymakers currently enjoying their vacation in Kenya to make them aware of the change in FCO advice for some areas of Mombasa and all have chosen to continue their holidays as planned.

“With all airports, safari circuits and many areas of the coast continuing to operate as normal we expect our customers to continue to travel to Kenya in the coming weeks.”

Vivian McCarthy, general manager of Acacia Africa, said: “Our tours do not go into Mombasa city or to any of the ‘warned against’ areas.

“We are still selling Kenya, and the country, which forms part of our East Africa programmes, is still a very popular destination.”

She added: “We would not travel into an area if the advisory issued was ‘against all but essential travel’ into that area.

“Moreover, we might still not travel into an area if the FCO did not have an advisory issued but we nevertheless considered, from information received locally, that it was unsafe to do so.”

Share article

View Comments

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.