Kol tourists take a financial hit but scrap Turkiye travel plans

Kolkata: After Turkiye rallied behind Pakistan during its recent conflict with India, several Kolkatans have decided to cancel tours to the country. While travel agents and tour operators had declared that they would boycott Turkiye and Azerbaijan, several hundred tourists from the city who were scheduled to travel to Istanbul have voluntarily cancelled their holidays, even while incurring losses through flight ticket cancellation fees. The total impact that Turkiye tourism could face from the travel boycott in Kolkata this summer and the ensuing Durga Puja is estimated at Rs 60 crore-Rs 75 crore.Punam Arora of South Wind Travel said a family group of eight who were booked to travel to Istanbul, Cappadocia and Antalya in the first week of June cancelled the booking and incurred losses of around Rs 15,500 per ticket in cancellation fees. "We have never seen clients incurring losses to cancel a trip based on sentiment and national pride. Nearly all travel agents in Kolkata have the same story to tell. We thought we would boycott promoting Turkiye and Azerbaijan, but clients have already decided not to travel to these destinations," said Arora, who is also the treasurer of the Travel Agents' Association of India's eastern India chapter.Sources said around 1,500 confirmed bookings to Turkiye were cancelled by clients. The country is set to lose a similar number of bookings during Durga Puja. While the Turkish govt's support to Pakistan played a major part, there were some who were unsure about steps that the Indian govt would take against Turkiye in the days ahead that could leave them in a difficult situation. Though India has not imposed any curbs on flights to the country yet, the revoking of security clearance to Turkish firm Celebi, which provides airport ground services, has left many rattled.Avijit Dasgupta, branch head of the Mumbai office of Globe All India Services, said his office issued a red alert on Turkiye even before Operation Sindoor as the political situation there was deteriorating. "In May, we had a 250-member MICE trip. We advised the clients to cancel it given the uncertainty there and the climate here, and they agreed to do so," he said.Turkiye is popular due to the confluence of eastern and western cultures that one can experience, the beautiful locales, the friendly people and their hospitable manners, affordable prices, and great connectivity. Around 2.7 lakh Indians visited Turkiye last year, 20% more than the previous year. But following the spate of cancellations, leading industry bodies in the travel trade community foresee the numbers plummeting to less than half unless Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan reconciles with the Indian govt soon.TAAI decided to boycott Turkiye and Azerbaijan over a week ago following the Turkish president's unequivocal support for Pakistan. "Turkiye called India a ‘dost' for its generosity in providing aid after the earthquake. But when India carried out a restrained and calibrated attack on terrorist camps in Pakistan, the country stabbed India in the back by supporting Pakistan," said TAAI chairman (east) Anjani Dhanuka.The Travel Agents' Federation of India has also announced that it will not support Turkiye and will promote alternative destinations. "Instead of condemning the barbarous attack on innocent civilians in Pahalgam or offering sympathy and condolences, Turkey has chosen to stand with perpetrators and abettors of this heinous crime against humanity," said TAFI managing committee member Anil Punjabi.