Day trips offered by TUI to a 'seaside ghost town' in the Turkish half of Cyprus will no longer be available from the end of August, it has been reported. TUI's decision to halt day trips to the Turkish-controlled north from the end of August comes after decades of division between the Greek Cypriot community in control of the south and the Turkish Cypriots governing the north. However, the announcement to cut trips to the northern part of the island - which contains a famous abandoned town once loved by European elites - has sparked outrage amongst the Turkish Cypriot community.
Local tour guides were apparently notified by email that the travel heavyweight will cease promoting or selling tours to the northern part of Cyprus after August 31. Are you from Cyprus and disagree with this decision? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com A leaked email screenshot was published by the Northern Cyprus newspaper Kibris, allegedly sent by TUI to the guides.
The email read: "TUI has come to an agreement with [the] Cyprus government to stop promoting and selling excursions to [the] northern occupied side of Cyprus. This applies to all languages and all excursions where we currently cross the border to the north." Cemal Gulercan, a member of the Turkish Cypriot restaurateurs' association (Res-Bir), expressed his concerns to Kibris, stating that this move "will have a negative impact on the service sector and restaurants".
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