Turkey may host 2 million Russian tourists in 2022, far below the levels achieved the year earlier as crippling Western sanctions imposed due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine make traveling problematic for Russians.
Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) head Maya Lomidze, speaking to Turkish economics daily Dünya, said that last year the number of Russian tourists in Turkey reached 4.7 million but it is now hard to make estimations due to ever-changing geopolitical developments.
She said that even if the number reaches 2 million in 2022, this would be considered a positive development in such an environment.
She said that the biggest obstacle for Russians who want to travel to Turkey this summer would be air travel and thus air transportation needs to be supported with affordable pricing.
Stating that the current Turkish Airlines (THY) and budget carrier Pegasus block seat prices given to Russian tour operators do not allow tours to be sold at the levels seen at the beginning of 2022, Lomidze said that the pricing changes cause a decrease in demand.
"The Turkish government's possible subsidization of air travel to eliminate the price difference between charter flights and scheduled flights may be a good solution," she said.
She added that since Visa and MasterCard have pulled out from the Russian market, individuals may face problems in making payments while those traveling with tour operators will not be facing similar problems.
Thus, she said, the integration of the Russian payment system Mir to the websites of THY or Turkish hotels would facilitate the demand.
"Considering that 80% of tourists from Russia go to Turkey as customers of tour operators, this may encourage independent tourists to switch to tour operators," she said.
Lomidze noted that Turkey doesn’t even need to promote itself to Russian tourists as the country has always been a popular destination for them and now is even more popular since several other touristic destinations seem off-limits to Russians.
Russians accounted for 19% of foreign visitors in Turkey in 2021.
Western sanctions imposed after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troops invaded Ukraine back in February, companies’ pulling out of the Russian market and travel restrictions have left Russia isolated globally.
Ankara has criticized Russia’s military actions in Ukraine as "unacceptable" and aided Ukraine with military drones it sold to the country but did not officially join sanctions against Russia. It has instead established communication tools between the parties to ensure peace.