The validity of the Culture and Tourism Ministry's decision to provide $6,000 (TL 20,363) in financial assistance to a group of travel agencies for each charter flight carrying tourists to Turkey via scheduled and non-scheduled flights will be extended to 2017.

Speaking at an event in Antalya, Turkey's popular holiday spot, Culture and Tourism Minister Nabi Avcı said they have discussed the issue with Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and the decision will be approved by the Cabinet on Monday.

Accordingly, the earlier application of the amendment extending to the year-end has been extended to one more year.The tourism sector faced a downward trend in the number of tourists visiting after the Russian military jet downing crisis last November and several terrorist attacks in the country.

As such, the government continues to take certain measures, such as providing financial support for flights, to support the sector to minimize the effects of the crisis.

Described as a fragile sector, tourism, which experienced several negative events this year, saw a sharp decline in the number of tourists.

The number of tourists visiting Turkey decreased by 20.7 percent in the first six months of the year when compared to the same time period of the previous year.

Relations between Russia and Turkey were frozen in November 2015 after Turkish jets downed a Russian Su-24 bomber near the Syrian border for violating Turkish airspace.

In June, following the beginning of a normalization process between Moscow and Ankara, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the removal of restrictions on travel, including a ban on tour packages.

Russia's travel ban caused Turkey's tourism industry to lose what some estimate to be billions of dollars.

The number of Russian tourists travelling to Turkey dropped by more than 90 percent compared to one year earlier.

However, leaving behind a year in which many bad things occurred, the tourism sector is hopeful for 2017.

Russia lifting its ban on chartered flights to Turkey, following the normalization process, is the main reason for this hope.