Earthquake also hits tourists

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The earthquake also hit tourists.

It is reported that there has been a decrease in demand for Istanbul tours in Russia following the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred in Istanbul last week.

According to the Association of Russian Tour Operators (ATOR), sales of Istanbul tours by some major tour operators decreased by 25 percent compared to the same period last year. 30 percent of short-term reservations were either canceled or postponed.

Noting that the earthquakes had a major impact on tourism, PEGAS Touristik’s Russia and CIS Coordinator Orhan Sancar said, “Approximately 30 percent of short-term reservations were canceled or postponed. Sales of Istanbul tours fell by 25 percent compared to last year.”

ISTANTOUR’s executive director Kadir Baydur said they have not encountered any cancellations of current tours and that a 25-30 percent decrease in the number of tourists is expected for the upcoming period. “Tourists ask a lot about the situation in the city, but in reality the hotels are fully booked until May 19,” Baydur said.

According to data announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), the number of people traveling domestically in 2024 fell 7 million short of 2019.

According to Tourism Databank, while 74 percent of the 83.1 million Turkish people were able to travel in 2019, only 63 percent of the 85.6 million people traveled in 2024.

While the cost of living has increased since 2019, especially in 2022 and 2023, holidays and traveling within the country have also become more expensive.

In 2024, 10 out of every 100 people traveling stayed in hotels, while 85 stayed at home. While the number of citizens staying in hotels in 2019 remained the same in 2024, total travel expenses increased by 92 percent due to the effect of excessive price increases.

Russian tourists head to Europe:

In Russia, visa applications to European countries increased by 10-20 percent in the spring compared to last year. According to Kommersant, increasing tourist interest, postponed travel requests and falling prices for airline tickets are supporting this increase, while obstacles such as limited application quotas and France not accepting old-style passports are partially slowing the trend.

According to the news in TürkRus, countries such as Italy, Spain and France continue to be the primary choice for Russian tourists in visa applications.

According to OneTwoTrip data, EU countries accounted for 22 percent of total international flight ticket sales in the May-August 2025 period. This rate was 16 percent in the same period last year. Italy, Spain and France lead the way in sales. However, the fact that visa periods generally only cover travel dates and that long-term visas are almost never granted is a factor that makes travel planning difficult.

On the other hand, the decline in flight prices is contributing to the increase in demand. For example, the price of a connecting round-trip ticket to Spain decreased by 14 percent to 71,700 rubles ($864). At the same time, some travel agencies report that they are trying to solve the visa application problem unofficially. In order to avoid delays in visas, consulates are stipulating processing times of three to four weeks.

However, European countries are tightening visa procedures. France has started rejecting applications with old-style passports. Some visas also require additional documents such as social security history and detailed bank statements. Despite these restrictions, experts expect demand for European visas to increase by 10-15 percent in 2025 compared to last year.