Indian companies in the travel space have taken a strong stance against Turkey and Azerbaijan after they backed Pakistan in its conflict against India.
While millions of Indian tourists had flocked to these countries in the last few years, travel operators and startups have now taken a call to pause all these packages.
"We’re pausing all new travel planning to Turkey and Azerbaijan destinations for now," said Hari Ganapathy, Co-Founder, Pickyourtrail.
He said that in light of recent events, they have made the decision to pause all new bookings to Turkey and Azerbaijan. "This is not a comment on the people, but a stance against policies that conflict with India’s national interest. As an Indian travel company, our first duty is to the Indian traveller."
Travel platform EaseMyTrip's Founder and Chairman, Nishant Pittie has advised people to avoid travelling to Turkey and Azerbaijan.
"Following the Pahalgam attack and escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, travellers are urged to stay aware. As Turkey and Azerbaijan have shown support for Pakistan, we strongly recommend visiting only if absolutely necessary."
Pittie also added that in view of the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, 2025 and war-like situations between India and Pakistan, it is disheartening to note that Turkey and Azerbaijan have extended their support to Pakistan.
"We strongly advise limiting travel to these countries unless absolutely essential. Please stay updated on current developments and exercise caution while making travel plans. We are deeply concerned by the recent developments. The safety of travellers is our top priority. We advise all our customers to exercise utmost caution and stay updated on official travel advisories before planning trips to sensitive regions," he added.
WanderOn, a D2C (direct to consumer) travel-technology firm has also closed bookings for the two destinations.
"We have closed the bookings for these two places and we are not making any new bookings. As for the existing bookings for the two places, Indians are saying they don't want to travel and are asking for a refund to check to reschedule their travel to other destinations," said the company's chief executive officer and founder, Govind Gaur.
He added that Indians are cancelling bookings to the western side of the world especially Turkey and Azerbaijan because of their anti-national stance against India.
"Over 50 percent drop in bookings is expected from India to Azerbaijan and Turkey. India is one of the biggest markets after China for the destinations," he added.
Karan Agarwal, Director, Cox & Kings also said that they have decided to pause all new travel offerings to Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkey.
"We also advise Indian travelers to exercise discretion and avoid any non-essential travel to these destinations until there is greater clarity and alignment in the broader geopolitical environment,” he added.
Travel accommodation brand Go Homestays has also ended its partnership with Turkish Airlines.
"We are officially ending our partnership with Turkish Airlines due to their unsupportive stance towards India. Going forward, we will no longer include their flights in our international travel packages," the firm said.
Rejection from India
Turkey and Azerbaijan's unsupportive stance against India, which is one of their fastest growing markets, will spell bad news for both the nation's tourism industries.
Gaur pointed out that the negative impact on Turkey and Azerbaijan will be larger than what Maldives had witnessed last year.
Last year, derogatory comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi by a number of ministers of Maldives had sparked tension among Indian travellers, leading to a cancellation of travel plans to Maldives. This resulted in India slipping to sixth position as a source market for Maldives last year from topping the list in 2023. The dwindling arrivals from India was estimated to have led to losses of over $1.8 billion to $2 billion to Maldives.
"I see a much larger impact as compared to Maldives. Baku or Azerbaijan is on travelers' minds because of Indian tourists. Last year, they had the highest number of people travelling to Azerbaijan from India. There won't be any new bookings and this is peak season time for them. Turkish Airlines will also see a significant impact because they are already boycotting the airlines. We will see a much larger impact on them in the coming days," Gaur said.
Fastest growing market
India remains one of the fastest growing markets for both Turkey and Azerbaijan.
As many as 3.3 lakh Indian tourists visited Turkey last year which was 20.7 percent more than 2023 when 2.74 lakh Indians had visited the country. As compared to 2023, the country last year between January to May had recorded a 34 percent surge in Indian visitors with 1.26 lakh Indian tourists, making India Turkey's one of the fastest-growing tourism markets.
Azerbaijan last year saw as many as 2.43 lakh Indian tourists which was 108 percent higher than 2023 when 1.17 lakh visitors travelled to the country.
Unsupportive stance
The decisions by Indian companies in the travel sector to pause bookings to the two destinations come after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Azerbaijan condemned the military attack in Pakistan.
"The Republic of Azerbaijan expresses its concern over the further escalation of tension between the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. We condemn military attacks against the Islamic Republic of Pakistan that killed and injured several civilians," the ministry's statement read.
"Being in solidarity with the people of Pakistan, we express condolences to the families of the innocent victims and wish a speedy recovery to those who were injured. We call on all parties to exercise restraint and to resolve the conflict through diplomatic means," the statement added.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on May 7 had said that "the attack carried out by India last night (May 6) raises the risk of an all-out war. We condemn such provocative steps as well as attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.”
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