Some 7 million Russians expected to visit Türkiye

ISTANBUL

Around 7 million Russians are expected to visit Türkiye this year, up from 5.5 million in 2022 as more flights are planned between the two countries.

Some 171 flights from Russia to Türkiye will take place each day during this summer season, according to a report on ekonomim.com.

Tour operators, including Coral, Anex, Pegas, Fun&Sun, Intourist, Tez Tour and Biblio-Globus are arranging those flights with several airline companies, such as Turkish Airlines, Southwind, Northwind, Azur, Pegasus, Aeroflot and Corendon.

“There will be between 1,150 to 1,200 flights each week with Russian airline companies handling 750 of them while 400 flights will be with Turkish companies,” said Dmitry Gorin, Vice-President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry.

The main destinations of the flights from Russia will be to Istanbul, Antalya, İzmir provinces and the resort towns of Bodrum and Dalaman.

Last summer between 750 to 850 flights took place between Russia and Türkiye.

In the first two months of 2023, more than 500,000 Russians traveled to Türkiye, accounting for 13 percent of all foreign tourist arrivals in the country, according to data from the Turkish Tourism and Culture Ministry.

In January-February last year, 246,000 Russians vacationed in Türkiye.

Main destination Antalya

Nearly 780,000 foreign holidaymakers arrived in Antalya, on the Mediterranean coast, by air in January-March, with Russians topping the list of foreign visitors. More than 213,000 Russians visited the city in the first three months, followed by Germans at 169,000 and Britons at 89,000.

Foreign tourist arrivals in Antalya increased by 55 percent compared with January-March 2022.

In March alone, foreign tourist visits rose by 54 percent from a year ago to 348,000.

Tourism activity is likely to be slower in April and May, said Kaan Kaşif Kavaloğlu, the president of the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers Association (AKTOB). “However, in the following months we are expecting demand to pick up from the main tourism source markets in Europe,” he said.

Tourist inflows from Germany and the U.K. grew around 50 percent in the first three months, according to Kavaloğlu.

“We anticipate a shift in demand from the British families toward all-inclusive holiday packages will continue due to high inflation,” he said.

Kavaloğlu noted that the increase in the number of Russian tourists was 146 percent. “But, we do not expect this trend to continue all year round.”