One fifth of Turkish hotels to give Russians discounts

Maya Lomidze, the executive director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, said that about 18-20% of Turkish hotels offered a discount of 15% to Russian tourists in the context of the ruble devaluation, TASS reports.

TUI offered discounts of 40% for booking hotels early.

Lomidze noted that the discounts were supposed to be a part of a joint program of Russian tour operators and the Turkish Ministry for Culture and Tourism that was planned to be signed during the visit of Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Omer Celik to Russia in mid-March. The document has not been signed.

The official added that Turkey still offers to subsidize flights of Russian tourists by $6,000 per flight during the summer. Tez Tour co-owner Alexander Burtin and Kilit Group Vice President Tuncay Kilit said that the subsidies were only for April-May.