One-fifth of Turkish hotels slash prices for Russian tourists

MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/. About one-fifth of Turkish hotels working with Russian tourist agencies have offered 15% discounts to Russian tourists for the summer period to maintain the number of tourists from Russia, which may decline because of the devaluation of the rouble, Executive Director of the Association of Russia’s Tourist Agencies Maya Lomidze told TASS. "It’s hard to say what share of hoteliers has indeed offered discounts, but, according to rough estimates, we are talking about approximately 18-20% of the total number of hotels working with Russia. This is not a total picture, but, nevertheless, some of the Turkish partners have offered substantial discounts for the summer period," Lomidze said. Turkish hoteliers predict a 25-30% reduction in the number of tourists from Russia this year, estimating their prospective losses at $764 million. Earlier, the Turkish authorities said they were planning to subsidize charter flights from Russia in the amount of $6,000 per each flight. Read more