Did you miss your trip to the Middle East? You can get your money back

The US and Israel’s shelling of Iran was met with a decisive response. The regime in Tehran has not only attacked Israel and American bases throughout the region. Rockets also flew towards popular tourist resorts and airports. This resulted in the closure of airspace in a huge area of ​​the Middle East, which resulted in, among other things, to the chaos in the tourism industry.

What to do with a trip to the Middle East? You can get your funds back

For many people, including from Poland, flying to the region described above is now out of the question. This, of course, involves the loss of a lot of money. The Insurance Guarantee Fund posted a message on its website informing about the launch of the Tourist Aid Fund. The Ministry of Tourism also announced this solution for Polish holidaymakers.

“The Minister of Sport and Tourism, in consultation with the Minister of Finance and Economy, recognize that due to the outbreak of hostilities in the territory of some Middle Eastern countries, unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occurred, referred to in Article 4 point 15 of the Act of November 24, 2017 on tourist events and related tourist services (Journal of Laws of 2023, item 2211, of 2025 item 1806)” – we read.

Poles who bought holidays in the Middle East can recover their lost funds. However, this is not an easy matter, because there are several conditions to be met. Firstly, only people who purchased an organized holiday can apply for a refund. The next conditions are as follows:

• the tourist event (i.e. a package including at least two different tourist services within one trip, e.g. flight and accommodation) was to take place in the territory of one of the following countries: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, United Arab Emirates or included a stopover in one of these countries;

• the start date of the event was between February 28, 2026 and March 27, 2026;

• the organizer received the payment in a non-cash form and the event was canceled before it started;

• the traveler informed about withdrawal from the contract or received information from the organizer about its termination in the period from February 28, 2026 to March 27, 2026 (inclusive);

• the tour operator is entered in the register of tourism entrepreneurs (record available at: ewidencja.ufg.pl).

Importantly, all these conditions must be met simultaneously. Applications can be submitted from March 5, and the deadline is a maximum of 14 days from the date of notification of the traveler’s withdrawal from the contract or from the date of termination of the contract by the organizer. Additionally, they must be submitted by both parties: both the client and the travel agency. They are accepted only through the TFG portal (tfg.ufg.pl).