Russian Ministry of the Interior took a decision last week, allowing members of Russian security members (police, etc.) to spend their holidays in Turkey. Record-breaking 6 million in terms of the number of Russian tourists to Turkey in the last year will increase even higher in the light of this decision.
In 2014, Russian Ministry of the Interior prohibited its employees and security officials from going abroad and taking holidays abroad.
After a while, security guards were only allowed to go to the former Soviet countries Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Belarus, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as China, Vietnam and Cuba.
Firuz Baglikaya, the head of Turkey’s Travel Agencies Association (TURSAB) said that they expect a significant increase in the number of tourists with the inclusion of Turkey among countries that Russian police can visit, adding that, 'Next year we expect to exceed 7 million in terms of the number of tourists from Russia.'
On the other hand, the Association of Russian Tour Operators (ATOR) said in a statement last week, that Russians’ number one preferred vacation spot is Turkey for the 2019 summer.
The statement said that just like last year, Turkey is the most preferred vacation spot for Russians in 2019, as the demand further increased by 15 percent compared to 2018.
It is obvious that the number one vacation spot of Russian citizens will continue to be Turkey, under the influence of good relations between Russian and Turkish leadership.