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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
World
Sophie McCoid

TUI cancels all Lapland breaks because they 'can't keep magic alive'

TUI has cancelled all Lapland holidays for customers from the UK and Ireland this winter.

The tour operator made the decision as it could not guarantee it would "keep the magic alive" for families visiting the Finnish region due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The news is set to bring heartbreak for excited children who wanted to visit Santa's workshop.

It said in a statement: "TUI UK and Ireland today regrets to confirm it has made the incredibly difficult decision to suspend holidays to Lapland this winter, due to the continued uncertainty surrounding travel and the unprecedented impact of Covid-19.

"Visiting Santa is a truly magical, once-in-a-lifetime family experience, and TUI has worked extremely hard in recent months to try to ensure it can keep the magic alive and guarantee children and their parents a safe and enjoyable holiday.

"However, with the rapidly evolving travel environment and a Covid test soon to be mandatory for Finland, TUI UK and Ireland has decided that, on this occasion, it would not be able to deliver on this promise and wanted to remove uncertainty for families."

TUI has also cancelled all flights and holidays during the national lockdown from Thursday, November 5 to Wednesday, December 2.

TUI issued an update on Tuesday, November 3, ahead of the lockdown.

The statement said: "Following the UK Government’s recent announcement regarding additional restrictions, TUI UK will not operate flights and holidays departing from England and Wales from Thursday 5th November up to Wednesday 2nd December 2020.

"Impacted customers will be proactively contacted, in departure date order, and offered the option to amend with a booking incentive, receive an ATOL-protected refund credit note with a booking incentive, or cancel and receive a full cash refund.

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"All TUI holidays between Monday 2 November and Wednesday 4 November are due to operate as planned. Customers due to travel before Thursday are able to amend their holiday to a later date for free. Customers currently on holiday can continue to enjoy their holiday as planned.

"As the current regulations have been implemented in England and Wales only, all holidays departing from Scotland will continue to operate as planned, unless customers are proactively contacted and told otherwise.

"We would like to thank our customers for their understanding."

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