Turkey is once again the number one destination for Russian holidaymakers just three days after the Kremlin lifted a ban on package tours to the country, the Kommersant newspaper reported Monday.
More than 35 percent of holidays sold in Russia on Sunday were package tours to Turkey, said OnlineTour travel agency?€™s spokesman Igor Blinov.
Independent travelers have also shown increasing interest in the country over the weekend, with requests for flights to Antalya and Istanbul soaring 30 and 25 percent respectively.
Prices for package tours to Turkey are expected to fall by 30 percent in the coming weeks as Turkish hotels begin to provide discounts and charter flights resume, Kommersant reported.
Many major Russian tour operators began selling trips to the country as soon as Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree lifting the ban on Friday last week.
The president imposed the travel ban to Turkey in November last year after a Russian Su-24 attack jet was shot down on the Syrian border by the Turkish Air Force.
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