Turkey will host more than 6 million Russian tourists in 2018, Culture and Tourism Minister Numan Kurtulmu? has predicted, according to the following article by hurriyetdailynews.com:
“It seems that the number of tourists coming from Russia will exceed the 6 million figure in 2018, when we look at early booking figures of the tour operators that dominate the Russian market,” Kurtulmu? told state-run Anadolu Agency during a recent visit to Moscow.
He added that he met twenty tour operators on the sidelines of the 25th Moscow International Travel and Tourism Exhibition.
“Recently a very serious political crisis was experienced [between Turkey and Russia],” Kurtulmu? noted, while adding that there is “no alienation between the people of both countries.”
“The most concrete example of this is the 2017 tourist figures,” he said, pointing out that 4.7 million Russian tourists visited Turkey in 2017.
Focus on visa-free travel
Kurtulmu? also claimed Russia is working on restarting visa-free travel for Turks, which was suspended after Turkey shot down a Russian military jet over an airspace violation in November 2015.
“We have requested this. I see an understanding on this issue and hope we will get the result,” he said, arguing that this would be “in the interests of Russia and Turkey.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also confirmed that Moscow and Ankara had discussed the visa issue.
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Source: hurriyetdailynews.com
