After the huge number of Russian tourists begin arriving in Turkey on Tuesday this week, turkey hopes for the revival of its tourism sector after a two-month suspension in flights imposed by Moscow due to concerns about a surge in COVID-19 cases in April.
The first plane arrived in the southern resort city of Antalya from Moscow around dawn, carrying 132 passengers.
The tourists got off the plane, passed through thermal cameras, and entered the airport before they were transported to their hotels.
Some 12,000 Russians were expected to arrive on 44 planes in the Mediterranean tourist hub of Antalya on Tuesday, Anadolu Agency (AA) said.
According to the tourism ministry, Turkish businesses suffered worst during the pandemic, tourism has been clobbered: In 2019, it brought in $34.5 billion and nearly 52 million visitors. In 2020, visitors dropped 69% and revenues fell to about $12 billion.
Tourism is one of the main sources of revenue generator of Turkey for its foreign currency needs, at a time when it’s been hit by double-digit inflation and a sinking currency, exacerbated by the pandemic.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly said this year’s season is crucial.
“We will ensure that tourism professionals can utilize at least the second half of the 2021 season,” he said Saturday, inaugurating a hotel in Antalya. “We aim to get a much bigger share of the tourism cake” along with recouping losses.
The fear of another missed season prompted the government to exclude tourists from what they called a “full lockdown” for Turks.
Tourism workers got priority in vaccinations and the tourism ministry shared a promotional video of mask-wearing staff that said “Enjoy, I’m vaccinated.” The video was taken down after a public outcry on social media, with some people saying it presented Turks as subservient to foreign visitors.
With daily infections down to a 7-day average of 5,645, some countries reassessed their travel warnings this month. France and Germany have removed Turkey from the high-risk list and on Tuesday Russia resumed flights — with Turkish TV stations providing live coverage of the first Russians landing.
The industry is hoping that Britain, Turkey’s third-largest tourism market, will also remove the country from its red list.
Turkey’s civil aviation updated its requirements on June 21, saying a negative PCR test within 72 hours of arrival would be required for travelers who have not been fully vaccinated or cannot show proof of recovery from COVID-19.
But Turkey’s push for foreign tourists could engender risks for the local population. Though hospitalizations and deaths have decreased and vaccinations have gained momentum, only 17% of the population has been fully vaccinated. Tourists from countries where a more contagious variant is spreading could affect Turkey. In Russia, daily infections have soared and vaccination numbers are low.
