More than 3 million Russian tourists visited Turkey last year, or 15 percent of total foreign visitors. But following the downing of a Russian warplane over the Turkish-Syrian border last November, Moscow banned charter flights to the country and told Russians the risk of terrorism was too high to safely travel there.
Ten tourists died in a suicide bombing in Istanbul in January, and multiple terror attacks took place last year.
Abdurrahman Karamanlioglu, chairman of spa hotel Denizli Colossae Thermal, was quoted by Today's Zaman as saying a number of hotels in resort towns were left on the brink of bankruptcy by the Russian boycott. All-inclusive package beach holidays were particularly popular among Russians .... http://www.themoscowtimes.com
