Russian tour operators stopped selling trips to Turkey, after the Russian Su-24 incident, Russian Tourist Industry Union press secretary Irina Turina announced on interfax.ru
This, she said, is yet another heavy blow to the Russian tourism industry, since, after Egypt, business freezes also with Turkey, the main market for Russian tourists in the last 13 years.
Alternative to Egypt
In 2014 alone, 3.3 million Russians visited the neighboring country while, before the Russian travel agencies bankruptcy epidemic, this number had reached well over 5 million.
“Russian outbound tourism market is impossible to exist without Turkey“, said Mrs. Turina and added that Turkey was the alternative for Russians who were planning to travel at this time of the year in Egypt.
Concern for bookings
Turkey operates 5-star hotels with pools and spas during the winter and there is ample concern amid tour operators for existing bookings.
“The worst thing“, according to Mrs. Turina, “is that Russians now have now lost any desire to travel even within their own country, leading the travel sector to destruction.”
Offcial recommendation
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recommended to Russian citizens to avoid travelling to Turkey for tourism purposes, since the terrorist threat is equivalent to Egypt.
Approximately 10,000 Russian tourists are estimated to be staying currently in Turkey, since most travellers who were planning to go to Egypt, after the terrorist attack against the Russian Airbus, decided to switch to this popular, adjacent destination.
Source: http://www.tornosnews.com
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