Citing a “changing political environment” Disney Cruise Line as well as land tour operator Adventures by Disney is dropping Tunisia from all land and sea tours. They are just the latest of a growing number of cruise lines and tour operators to pull out of the troubled region.
“We continually evaluate our itineraries, and the decision to modify this itinerary was made in part due to the changing political environment in Tunis and the recent Travel Alert issued by the U.S. Department of State for Tunisia,” Disney spokesperson Christi Erwin Donnan told USA TODAY.
Adventures by Disney, the company’s guided tour service , had been heavily marketing their new tours of Egypt featuring 7- and 9-night itineraries. But the trips have been suspended through August 2011, pending a resolution to the current unrest in the region.
Disney Magic had been scheduled to sail 10- and 11-night Mediterranean voyages that included a call on the Tunisian capital of Tunis but is replacing Tunis with a stop in Palermo, Italy.
Because these drops are a result of US State Department travel advisories, it’s possible that they will be extended past their scheduled changes as further developments occur in the troubled region.
Flickr photo by steve.armitage