Holidaymakers have been urged to cancel or postpone trips to the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines where at least 10,000 people are believed to have been killed by typhoon Haiyan.
The typhoon ripped through six islands in the central Philippines on Friday, causing major devastation in Leyte and Eastern Samar and other islands.
Up to 10,000 are feared dead in Tacloban city on Leyte, where the typhoon flattened homes, schools and an airport. Hundreds are believed to have been killed elsewhere and hundreds of thousands have been left homeless.
The Foreign Office is advising against all but essential travel to the Eastern Visayas region where there are food and water shortages along with deteriorating health conditions, poor communications and an ongoing relief effort.
Meanwhile, cruise companies that employ many Filipinos are assisting with the relief effort, providing donations and helping crew to contact their families back home. Holland America Line and Seabourn have sent $25,000 to the affected areas and Fred Olsen is inviting passengers to make donations to the relief effort via their onboard accounts.
