On a sunny day in June 2015, on the shores of the Mediterranean, one man took 38 lives. Thirty of the victims of Seifeddine Rezgui were British holidaymakers.

For six weeks, the inquests into their deaths heard accounts of horror and heroism, as well as the lamentable response of the police — described by the coroner as “at best shambolic, at worst cowardly".

Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith told the bereaved families: “Throughout the proceedings, you have shown a quiet dignity for which your loved ones would have been extremely proud.”

After he had summed up his conclusions, many bereaved relatives gathered at the doors of the Royal Courts of Justice.

Their solicitor, Kylie Hutchison, called for action to prevent any repeat of the massacre: “It is now crucial that the whole travel industry learns from what happened in Sousse to reduce the risk of similar catastrophic incidents in the future.”

Tunisia victims' families to sue travel firm over terror deaths

Yet the response from Abta, the association representing travel agents and tour operators, was remarkably tentative.

A spokesperson said: “We will carefully review the coroner’s report when it is published at the end of March to see if there are any learnings for the industry.”

The evidence produced during the inquests indicates no shortage of “learnings for the industry” from the killings at the Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel – particularly about what information needs to be presented to prospective holidaymakers on potential threats, and tour operators’ responsibility for security as well as safety.

Much of the evidence centred on the response to a previous massacre in Tunisia.

Tourists lay flowers in memory of those killed by a jihadist gunman on the beach in front of the Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Tunisia (Getty)

Almost two years ago, cruise passengers visiting Tunisia’s leading museum, the Bardo in Tunis, were attacked. Twenty-two people from 10 countries died.

Isis claimed responsibility for the attack, as part of an attempt to destroy the Tunisian economy.

The Foreign Office, which issues travel advice for every country, did not step up its warning – which appears to have been taken by the British travel industry as a signal that it was business as usual.

Tui, the UK’s biggest travel company, provided its travel agents and call-centre staff with a crib sheet with specific responses to questions asked by anxious holidaymakers.

It implied that nothing had changed in relation to Tui’s beach holidays, and stressed that anyone who wanted to amend or cancel their holiday would pay the normal financial penalties.

In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Show all 32 1 /32 In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia The coffin of Denis Thwaites is carried from an RAF C-17, which repatriated the bodies of eight British nationals killed in the Tunisia terror attack, at RAF Brize Norton near Oxford in Britain In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia The coffin of John Stollery is carried from an RAF C-17, which repatriated the bodies of eight British nationals killed in the Tunisia terror attack, at RAF Brize Norton near Oxford in Britain In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia The coffin of Elaine Thwaites, one of the victims of the terrorist attack, is taken from the RAF C-17 aircraft at RAF Brize Norton in Tunisia In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Hearses carrying the victim's of last Friday's terrorist attack arrive at Tunis Airport Getty Images In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia An RAF C17 transport aircraft arrives at RAF Brize Norton Airport in Oxfordshire carrying the bodies of 8 British people killed in the Tunisia gun attack Getty Images In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Ambulances carrying the victim's of the terrorist attack arrive at Tunis Airport Getty Images In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Armed police continue to patrol Marhaba beach in Sousse Getty Images In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia National guard members patrol at the beach near the Imperiale Marhaba hotel, which was attacked by a gunman in Sousse In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Military personnel attending to injured British nationals on board an RAF C-17 aircraft en route back to the United Kingdom, in Tunisia In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Military personnel attending to injured British nationals on board an RAF C-17 aircraft en route back to the United Kingdom, in Tunisia In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Holidaymakers lay flowers on Marhaba beach Getty Images In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Tourists pay tribute to the victims of the Sousse attack at a makeshift memorial on the beach at the Imperial Marhaba resort Reuters In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia The Home Secretary Theresa May pays her respects with her counterparts, France’s Bernard Cazeneuve, left, Germany’s Thomas de Maiziere, second left, and Tunisia’s Najem Gharsalli, in Sousse Reuters In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Two tourists pay respects to victims of IS attack on beach in Sousse, Tunisia Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Many people remain unaccounted for and many of their relatives have taken to social media in the hope of obtaining information about those who are still missing (Getty) Getty In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia A boy holds a Tunisian flag at the spot on the beach where the attack took place Reuters In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia A man kisses a Tunisian flag at the site of a shooting attack on the beach in front of the Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Port el Kantaoui, on the outskirts of Sousse In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia The front of the Marhaba hotel Getty In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Tunisian Ennahdha party member and former minister Houcine Jazir speaks with Belgium survivor couple Corman (R) and Claude Pesser after a mass shooting in the resort town of Sousse In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia The bloodstained belongings of a tourist are seen on the sand in the resort town of Sousse AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia A broken glass window of the Imperiale Marhaba hotel is seen after a gunman opened fire at the beachside hotel in Sousse Reuters In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Blood stains cover the ground at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Sousse, Tunisia after mass shooting Fethi Belais/AFP/Getty In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Policemen patrolling the beach in front of the Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Sousse where tributes have been laid to the dead AFP/Getty In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia People stand in silence next to flowers during a gathering at the scene of the attack in Sousse, Tunisia Getty In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Messages and flowers are left on Marhaba beach where 38 people were killed in a terrorist attack in Souuse Getty Images In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Police officers control the crowd while surrounding a man suspected to be involved in opening fire on a beachside hotel in Sousse, Tunisia In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Medics help an injured man in Sousse In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia A body lies on a street in Sousse In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Members of the Tunisian security forces in an armoured vehicle patrol a street in Sousse In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia The beach where the massacre took place Lionel Tunisiano/Twitter In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia A general view of the deserted pool and deck chairs at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel EPA In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia A woman looks toward a glass door shattered by a bullet at Imperial Marhaba Hotel EPA

The response was at odds with what the company had done a year earlier when a small amendment to Foreign Office advice on the Mombasa area triggered the cancellation of the company’s entire programme in Kenya.

Following the Bardo attack in March 2015, Tui continued to take bookings for holidays in Tunisia for its Thomson and First Choice brands, but without prominent reference to the Foreign Office travel advice. Three months later, 30 of its customers were killed at Sousse.

The coroner said: “I recognise that had some customers had seen and read the FCO advice, they may well have not travelled to Tunisia.”

The court also heard about the inadequacies of security at the hotel, despite an action plan to enhance protection issued by the Tunisian authorities after the Bardo attack.

A request by lawyers for many of the victims’ families for a finding of “neglect” was rejected by the coroner on the grounds that, in an inquest, the term has a very narrow definition inappropriate to the Tunisia killings.

But Kylie Hutchison, solicitor for the families, said they would now sue the holiday firm in the civil courts for negligence: “On behalf of our clients who lost members of their family and those who suffered injuries in this terrible incident, we will now be preparing to commence civil proceedings against Tui.”

Gunman Seifeddine Rezgui killed 38 tourists at a beach resort in Sousse

Tui’s UK managing director, Nick Longman, read a prepared statement outside the court, expressing his “deepest sympathy” for the families.

“We have now heard the Coroner’s findings and his comments regarding the provision of security and visibility of travel advice.

“On that day the world changed. As an industry we have adapted and we will need to continue to do so. This terrorist incident has left its mark on all of us and its impact will always be remembered.”

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “The Sousse attack was the largest loss of British life to terrorism since 7/7, and devastated the lives of so many.

“Our deepest sympathy remains with all those people caught up in this horrific attack and we hope that the Inquest process has been of some help to the families.”