Tunisia: First UK charter since 2015 Sousse attack

He insisted that security had vastly improved, and told TTG tourists should feel confident in the hotel’s new safety measures. These include more than doubling its security staff numbers since 2015, from 12 to 25, while the number of CCTV cameras has also increased from 20 to 47, with more set to be added.

Sniffer dogs trained to smell explosives are also now used at the hotel’s beach and front entrances, while staff throughout the hotel have been trained under guidance from the Interior Ministry. Spot checks are also conducted throughout the year.

“We as Tunisians are a gentle people,” Riahi said. “We are doing the best we can and we are getting a lot stricter in defining our perimeter as a hotel.”

Meanwhile, Thomas Cook customers told TTG they were conscious of security concerns, but said they trusted Cook to have made the necessary safety checks.

David and Andrea Walburton from Manchester told TTG this was their seventh visit to Tunisia and said they were “very happy to be back and supporting the Tunisian people”.

Meanwhile, friends Sacha Houlders, 25, and Zarfreen Bibi, 27, admitted they had been lured by the cheaper prices. Bibi said security concerns “were always at the back of my mind”, but added: “It hasn’t put us off going to places like London or Manchester, which also had terror attacks.

“We trust Thomas Cook and the [UK] government to have checked the security here.”

Elsewhere, during a conference call following Tui Group’s first-quarter results this week, chief executive Fritz Joussen said the group “opened the destination [to the UK] because demand was very clear”.