TUNISIA

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<p>Has anyone booked a tour to Tunisia for March 2011? If so, what is the position the tour company is taking in light of the ongoing violence? </p>

Tour companies often consider State Department travel warnings in their decision to cancel/defer tours.
On January 16th the State Department issued a travel warning on Tunisia:
http://tunisia.usembassy.gov/travel_warning.html
In part it states:
"The U.S. Department of State warns U.S. citizens about the current political and social unrest in Tunisia and recommends deferring non-essential travel to Tunisia at this time. A state of emergency was declared in Tunisia on January 14. The Department of State has authorized the departure of all family members. U.S. citizens in Tunisia should closely examine their security situation in light of this and other recent developments and consider departing Tunisia."
The full consular information sheet is at:
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1045.html

You should check the Terms and Conditions of your tour operator and also with any Travel Insurance company you use.
They may proceed with the tour, defer and reschedule the tour, cancel the tour and offer you an alternative tour or provide a refund.

I know that Vantage Travel has cancelled their Tunisia tours. We took it with themabout 4 years ago and while it was okay, it does not rank among our outstanding travel experience. So with all that is going on, I would not even consider going there now.

OAT has cancelled their Tunisia tours. I was to leave 1/27/2011. They offered me a full refund, but I said that I wanted to travel in the same time period, so I'm about to leave on their Costa Rica trip. They could not have been more attentive.
My travel insurance (through USAA) said they cover only acts of terrorism, not "civil" unrest, so had I cancelled, I would have lost my money. Since the trip was cancelled, they did refund my premium.

Thanks for all your responses. OAT has canceled all trips to Tunisia through Feb. 27th. Now it's Plan B.

A state of emergency was declared in Tunisia on January 14. The Department of State has authorized the departure of all family members. U.S. citizens in Tunisia should closely examine their security situation in light of this and other recent developments and consider departing Tunisia."