TUI has confirmed there will be no trips to see Santa this year.

The UK & Ireland subsidiary revealed earlier it had taken the “incredibly difficult” decision to suspend holidays to Lapland this winter.

The move is 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 said it had 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-19 test soon to be mandatory for Finland, TUI has decided that on this occasion, it would not be able to deliver on this promise and wanted to remove uncertainty for families.

The health, safety and enjoyment of customers and colleagues continues to be the number one priority.

All customers impacted by this decision are currently in the process of being contacted to discuss their options, which include the opportunity to amend for next year, receive a refund credit note with an incentive or choose to request a full refund.

“TUI would like to apologise sincerely for any inconvenience and disappointment caused and thanks customers for their understanding,” added a statement/

The TUI holiday experience to Lapland is expected to return in winter 2021.