Indian travel firms report drop in Turkey bookings over Pakistan support

BENGALURU: Indians are cancelling holidays in popular resorts in Turkey and Azerbaijan after the countries supported Pakistan during its recent conflict with New Delhi, two booking firms said.

Ties between India and Pakistan nosedived after the Pahalgam attack in Kashmir last month that New Delhi said was backed by Islamabad.

Pakistan denied involvement, but intense fighting broke out when India struck in Pakistan last week. They agreed a ceasefire on Saturday which has largely held.

Turkey and Azerbaijan, popular budget holiday destinations for Indians, issued statements backing Islamabad after India’s strikes.

“Bookings for Azerbaijan and Turkey decreasing by 60% (over the last week) while cancellations have surged by 250% during the same period,” a spokesperson for MakeMyTrip said.

EaseMyTrip’s Chief Executive Officer, Rikant Pittie, said the platform had seen a 22% rise in cancellations for Turkey and 30% for Azerbaijan “due to recent geopolitical tensions”.

Travellers had switched to Georgia, Serbia, Greece, Thailand and Vietnam, he added.

Another ticketing platform, ixigo, earlier said in a post on X, that it would be suspending flight and hotel bookings for Turkey, Azerbaijan and China.

EaseMyTrip’s founder and chairman Nishant Pitti said in a post on X that 287,000 Indians visited Turkey last year and 243,000 visited Azerbaijan.

“When these nations openly support Pakistan, should we fuel their tourism and their economies?” Pitti said.