Travellers to the US face disruption Dozens of museums - including all 19 Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo - are also shut. Independent travellers will have little option but to miss out on some of the country's key sites, and could be forced to pay again for new accommodation if they are due to stay inside a National Park, though they should get a refund for their lost bookings. Those booked with a tour operator can expect to be offered a new itinerary. Scenic Tours, for example, currently has one group in San Francisco and another in Washington, en route to the Grand Canyon. Simon Whittle, the firm's marketing manager, said the former group would not visit Alcatraz as planned but would instead be offered a bike tour or a harbour cruise. Alternative accommodation and a trip to the Grand Canyon's west rim - which is not owned by the National Parks Service - was being sought for the latter group, he added, while visits to Arlington Cemetery and the Martin Luther King Memorial were being offered as alternatives to The Lincoln Memorial and the Library of Congress. Delays at airports may also occur due to a shortage of air traffic control, security and immigration staff, the Foreign Office warned. Nick Trend, Telegraph Travel consumer expert, said: "If you are an independent traveller, you will have to put up with any disappointments you face. If you are on a package tour, the operator has a legal duty to look after you and make sure you are put up in suitable accommodation. If your tour itinerary is disrupted by the shut downs, the operator can't be held responsible. But a good company will do its best to sort out suitable alternatives, and must certainly refund any money paid in advance for visits which have to be cancelled. It remains to be seen how long the disruption will last. The last federal shut down saw services suspended for a total of 28 days, from November 14-19, 1995, and from December 16, 1995 until January 6, 1996.