Turkey, Russia begin tourism diplomacy amid hopes for summer time season

A delegation led by Turkey’s Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, traveled to Moscow on Monday to discuss with colleagues the flight restrictions imposed by Russia, Turkey’s main source of visitors.

The visit comes as Ankara eased coronavirus restrictions on Monday after the number of new COVID-19 cases fell after a nearly three-week lockdown, offering hope for the main summer tourist season.

The delegation of 10 members included Ibrahim Kalın, the spokesman and advisor to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the deputy health minister Tolga Tolunay, Turkish media reported.

Earlier reports said Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Ersoy were ready to visit Moscow in May to discuss the pandemic situation, to allay Russia’s concerns and provide any necessary information.

The country’s main source of visitors for the past month Most air travel was suspended until Juneciting increasing COVID-19 infections. Only two flights per week are allowed between Moscow and Istanbul.

Said Ankara Moscow’s decision to suspend most flights blocked the plans of 500,000 tourists who was hoping to visit in the period from April to June.

Turkey took in 2.1 million Russians last year and around 6 million Russians the year before the pandemic.

The government declared a full nationwide lockdown through May 17 last month to curb the rising infections and deaths and save the tourism season and the associated foreign currency flow, which is vital in closing the current account deficit.

Daily cases fell from a record high of 63,082 a month ago to nearly 10,000 on Sunday.

The Turkish delegation will also discuss the delivery of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V COVID-19, reports say.

Turkey announced in late April that it had signed a contract to purchase 50 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine that will arrive this month. Shipping is expected to be completed within six months.

The country has issued an emergency permit for the Russian shock. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is responsible for marketing Sputnik V, said a last month The Turkish company would also produce the shot in their factories.

In Turkey, around 10.8 million people have been fully vaccinated, which is 13% of the population. 14.9 million received a first dose.

The country began to relax its strict lockdown on Monday by allowing exercise during the day while observing curfew overnight and on weekends. Foreign visitors are exempt from curfew.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday that Turkey would gradually exit the full lockdown from June and lift the restrictions more clearly.

Most travel restrictions have been lifted, but people are required to stay at home between 9:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. on weekdays and from Friday evening to Monday morning, apart from meeting basic shopping needs, under an ordinance from the Home Office on Sunday. Restaurants are only open for grocery deliveries.

The surge in cases threatened to hit Turkey’s lucrative summer tourism season, and the UK, one of its major tourist sources, has put it on the red list of trips.

This prompted the Champions League final to move from Istanbul to Portugal, while Formula 1 canceled the Turkey Grand Prix in 2021 on Friday.

On Saturday May 16, Turkey ended the requirement that tourists from 14 countries including the UK must present a negative virus test to enter the country. But it removed Israel from the exempted countries list after it was accused of crimes against humanity while the Palestinians in Gaza were severely attacked and civilian people died.

Although Foreign arrivals fell 54% year over year in the first quarterErsoy said a sharp drop in coronavirus infections since April 21 is a hopeful sign.

The minister said the country would open the tourist season from June 1st and that they could keep their target of 30 million foreign visitors this yeartwice as many as last.

The chairman of the tourism working group of the Antalya city council, Recep Yavuz, said on Monday that more than 532,000 tourists had arrived in the Mediterranean spa town since the beginning of the year.

Daily arrivals fell to just over 5,000 in May due to Russia’s flight restrictions, and arrivals from Europe fell short of expectations, Yavuz told the Demirören News Agency (DHA).

Around 30 planes brought around 6,000 tourists from Ukraine on May 16 alone, he added. Since Sunday, more than 10,125 tourists came to Antalya on 53 flights.

Tourism revenue fell 65% last year as visitors only grossed around $ 12 billion (TL 100.41 billion) after the global travel price stalled in 2019. The tourism industry accounts for up to 12% of the Turkish economy.

The country has set itself the goal of completing the vaccination of all employees in the tourism industry by the end of May.