Tour operators in Britain said on Friday that holidays to Kenya would remain suspended as long as the UK foreign office advises against all but essential travel to the whole of country. Initially, the British Federation of Tour Operators (FTO) announced that it was suspending all trips to the country until Sunday but resumption is now considered unlikely until at least later next week.  And the Kenya Tourism Federation (KTF) on Friday warned of massive lay-offs in the industry if the post-election violence that has recently rocked various parts of the country is not contained. KTF spokesperson, Mr Jakes Grieves-Cook, said the industry could slide into the post-1997 levels when clashes in Likoni, Mombasa drove the tourism sector to near-collapse unless remedial measures are taken urgently.

Speaking during a multi-sectoral press conference held at a Nairobi hotel, Mr Grieves-Cook said the 1997 slump saw 15,000 people lose their jobs. “We are, therefore, looking at the prospect of even higher lay-offs should the situation persist,” he said.  KTF brings together the associations of tour operators, travel agents, hoteliers and air operators. Mr Grieves-Cook noted that while the over 30,000 tourists presently in the country means many hotels are operating normally, lack of new arrivals will shortly reverse the gains the industry has made in the last four years.

There are about 6,000 British tourists in the country with about 3,000 on package tours. January is a peak time for tourism as holidaymakers escape the British winter for beach breaks at the Indian Ocean resorts to the north and south of Mombasa and for safaris further inland.  The 400 tourists who were due to arrive on Saturday or Sunday are now to be offered alternative venues for their holidays. Tour operators say their priority is now to get and estimated 6,000 holidaymakers who are in Kenya home safely.

U.K. food and online retailers are likely to emerge as winners from the difficult holiday reporting season, with the losers being clothing, jewelry, consumer electronics and home-related retailers such as Marks & Spencer Group PLC (MKS.LN), DSG International PLC (DSGI.LN) and Next PLC (NXT.LN). U.K. supermarket chain Asda Group Ltd. Wednesday reported strong performances in fresh food and its George clothing brand over the critical holiday season.

President and Chief Executive Andy Bond said the key holiday season was the retailer’s “best ever”, despite the sector having its worst Christmas in three years. Asda, the country’s second-biggest supermarket chain by sales, said it served a million more customers in the week before Christmas than a year earlier. Asda didn’t report specific holiday sales figures.

A day later, J Sainsbury PLC (SBRY.LN), the first of the three-listed U.K. supermarket chains to report, booked strong fiscal third-quarter sales following a good Christmas period, which was a welcome relief to besieged investors. Stripping out fuel, comparable sales from Sainsbury stores open at least a year, rose 3.7% in the 12 weeks ended Dec. 29 from a year earlier, slightly above analyst consensus of 3.6%, supported by promotional activity in the weeks leading up to Christmas. That compares with a 3.1% rise in the second-quarter of fiscal 2008 from a year ago.

He set up the company in 2005 with Phil Bish and Turkish civil engineer Emsal Yilmaz. Over two years on, and Turkish Homes 4 less has completed three building projects in the eastern Mediterranean areas of Alanya and Belek, and has established offices in Liverpool, Northern Ireland and Turkey. Here is his working day: I wake up in my house in Garston, with a packed suitcase at the end of my bed.

I have just come back from a four-day viewing trip with a group of prospective buyers, and crashed out as soon as I got back from Manchester Airport late last night. No time to relax, though, as I’ve got a busy day ahead of me. I quickly jump in the shower and grab a bit of breakfast before heading to the office, luckily only a short drive away to Aigburth Road. I arrive at the office to be greeted by Mick, who has opened up the shop and made us a cup of tea. I update him on how the trip went and show him the latest pictures of our Panorama Apartment development.

He is planning to re-locate to Turkey himself once his house sale goes through. I have just come off the phone with a customer who bought a holiday home from us a year ago. He would like us to start renting out his property, and wants to know how it all works. I explain to him that the rental market in Turkey is thriving at the moment, thanks to the increasing numbers of sun-seeking tourists, so it won’t be difficult to find tenants for this property.