Russian authorities expect 3.5 million tourists to visit Turkey

Early bookings in Russia indicate that Turkey will be visited by approximately 3 million-3.5 million Russian tourists in 2017.

According to the Ria news agency, the general director of the national tourist company "Intourist," Victor Topolkaraev, who shared his forecasts for the next tourist season at a press conference, noted that unless there is significant situation, there will be a noteworthy increase in foreign tour sales compared to the previous year due to Turkey's return to the market.

"While estimating two to three months ago that 3 million tourists would come to Turkey from Russia this year, I can raise this estimate to 3.5 million considering the aggressive sales tempo observed today," Topolkaraev said, pointing out that early bookings made for overseas vacation are well above normal levels.

Topolkaraev noted that tourist interest in overseas vacations shows a unique trend and growth, saying: "It's a bit terrifying. In early bookings and sales, we see a situation that has not been on the market before."

In 2014, the number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey peaked at 4.5 million, making Russia second on Turkey's arrivals list. However, the number declined to 3.6 million in 2015 and plummeted further in 2016 to approximately 800,000, after the Nov. 24, 2015 incident, in which Turkish F-16 jets downed a Russian Su-24 bomber for violating Turkey's airspace. Moscow had implemented sanctions on Turkish goods and refused work permits to Turkish workers, and the Russian government also called on its citizens to not travel to Turkey, causing a steep decline in Russian tourists to Turkey. Fortunately, with the normalization of relations, the Turkish tourism sector now has higher hopes about Russian tourists vacationing in the country.