According to the tourism news Center, the news source of the tourism sector, Russian citizens started to show more interest in alternative tours outside Turkey despite the cancellation of direct flights, price increases and the need to make a stopover, and their tour reservations for Europe increased significantly compared to last year.
Stating that the interest of russian tourists in popular holiday destinations such as Southern Cyprus, Spain, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Portugal has increased, Russian industry representatives state that the search for alternatives to Turkey tours has led tourists to Europe.
Anatoliy Garkushin, general director of the Panteon tour operator operating in Russia, said that tour bookings to European countries for the 2023 tourism season exceeded the same period last year by 10 times and that people are tired of Turkey.
While it is stated that flights from Russia to European countries can be made not only via Istanbul and Dubai but also via Kuwait, Casablanca and Bahrain, the European Council canceled the simplified visa regime between Russia and the EU in September 2022.
