Russia resumes air traffic with Turkey makes tourism sector happy

The decision of Russia to resuming full-scale air traffic with Turkey has been welcomed by the Turkish tourism sector.

On Friday, Russia announced that the country is resuming full-scale air traffic with Turkey next Tuesday, permitting the large tourist trade of Russians taking holidays in Turkey to restart.

The decision of Russia made the Turkish tourism industry happy. The tourism professionals in Turkey’s famed southern summer resort Antalya said they expect more Russian tourists than last year.

The decision was made following a visit of Russian experts to Turkey to assess safety measures, Vice Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told a government meeting in Moscow on Friday.

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Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy welcomed Russia’s move on Twitter.“Russia’s resumption of flights to our country as of June 22 is an indication of the trust in our country for safe tourism,” Ersoy wrote.“I hope that we will reap the fruits of our diplomatic traffic with other countries in the upcoming period, as with Russia,” he added.

Turkey has spearheaded safe tourism campaigns and a special certification to ensure that tourists and locals alike are safe from further coronavirus outbreaks.

Turkey is the most popular holiday direction among Russian tourists. In 2019 over 7 million Russian tourists visited Turkey, more than any other country.

In 2020, even with the pandemic, more than 2.7 million Russian tourists chose Turkey as their holiday destination.