Stakeholders in Turkey’s tourism sector have welcomed Russia’s decision for full scale flights between the two countries to resume on June 22 after three months over fear of contamination to Covid-19.
Moscow reports say, made the decision Friday following a series of preventative COVID-19 measures enforced in Turkey.
A delegation of Russia experts visited Turkey last week to assess safety measures at airports and accommodation facilities. Russia in April suspended commercial flights between the two countries until June 1 and further extended the ban until June 21.
Turkey’s tourism minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy welcomed Moscow’s decision as he branded the move “an indication of the trust in our country for safe tourism”, Daily Sabah reports.
“I hope that we will reap the fruits of our diplomatic traffic with Russia and other countries in the upcoming period,” Ersoy said on Twitter. Turkey expects to tap into Russian holidaymakers to boost its tourist sector plummeted by the travel restriction put in place owing to the pandemic.
Russian tourists make up Turkey’s largest tourism market. At least 1 million Russian tourists are expected to arrive throughout the year, still down from around 2.1 million last year and 6 million in the year before the pandemic, the daily reports, citing some experts in the industry.
Turkish tourism stakeholders rub hands as Moscow greenlights resumption of flights to Turkey
