Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar.30
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Turkey intends to increase the number of Russian tourists in 2015, Minister of Economy of Turkey Nihat Zeybekci said, Turkish news agency Anadolu reported Mar.29.
The minister said the deterioration of relations of several European countries with Russia is a chance to attract Russian tourists to Turkey.
He also said that Turkey will create all conditions for the increase of Russian tourists.
Turkey will provide financial support for the country's tourism operators to attract tourists from abroad, Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said earlier. He said Ankara also intends to compensate the costs of transportation of tourists by aircraft and will allocate $6,000 for the payment for fuel used in flight to one side.
However, the PM didn't specify whether or not this compensation will be non-recurring. He also pointed out that tourism is one of the most important sectors of the Turkish economy.
The country's income from tourism increased by 6.2 percent in 2014 and amounted to $34.305 billion compared to the same period of 2013, the Turkish Statistics Institute said. Around 81.5 percent of income was received from foreign tourists, 18.5 percent - from Turkish citizens living abroad and visiting the country.
It was also reported that the number of foreign tourists, especially from Russia, who visited the Turkish province of Antalya has declined since early 2015. The number of Russian tourists visiting Antalya within two months 2015 decreased by 41 percent compared to the same period of 2014.
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