Author: VK
Riots in Turkey, in particular, in the largest cities – Istanbul and Ankara, caused a lot of anxiety among the Russian tour operators. Turkey is the country in demand for the travel of Russians. Visa free regime, warm sea, "all inclusive" hotels attract Russian tourists from all corners of the large country. The impact of rallies on the tourism business was discussed at a press conference in Moscow by the chairman of the Russian Tourism Agency in Turkey Alexei Kashirshky and the Executive Director of the Association of Russian Tour Operators Maya Lomidze.
According to Alexei Kashirsky, the area around Antalya, Izmir, in general, all resort areas are not just safe, people there just do not know about anything: “Just on Monday I called an old friend, who flew in on the 31st, and is staying in a hotel in Belek. I tell him what is happening, and he says, "Yeah? How do you know?" I say, first of all, I can see it from my window, and then I watch TV and surf the Internet. He said: "Interesting, we have not heard about it."
What is the reason? According to Alexei Kashirsky, it is a years-old, accumulated, certain dissatisfaction of the Turkish people with the policies of the current government: “They, on the one hand, say that it was very good: economic growth - in Turkey it is the construction of roads, railways, etc. On the other hand, they argue, one party has been in power for too long. And also some deviations from the policy of Ataturk – the father of the nation. The park was laid out on the site of the Ottoman barracks, which were demolished in 1923 by the order of Atatürk as a legacy of the Ottoman regime. Cutting down the park and building a cultural and trade center with the restoration of the barracks seems like a retreat from the principles of Kemalism”, chairman of the Russian Tourism Agency believes.
In turn, Maya Lomidze, the Executive Director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, noted that the number of calls with questions and concerns about the safety of a holiday in Turkey has increased over the past day. “They come to us, they come to travel companies, but nevertheless, tours are not being cancelled. There are some isolated cases, really isolated, you can count them on the fingers of one hand. And no one wants to prematurely terminate their holiday, because there is no reason for this whatsoever”, Maya Lomidze said.
