The Association of Tour Operators of Russia announced an increase in the number of Russian tourists to Turkish resorts in recent days by 15%.
In a report published by the Russian newspaper "Izvestia" (iz.ru), writer Elnar Baynazarov says that the number of flights to Antalya and Dalaman remained at previous levels, and there was no decrease in travel to Turkey despite the widespread fires that recently swept the country.
Ankara announced during the past days that it would provide the required material support to the residents of the areas affected by the fires, while the Russian Federation of the travel industry confirmed that the compensation would not include Russian tourists because the fires did not devour the hotels in which they were staying.
According to the writer, the past few days have not seen any requests to cancel or postpone tourist reservations to Turkey, especially since August is the peak of the holiday season in Russia.
The past days have not seen any requests to cancel or postpone tourist reservations to Turkey (Getty Images)
Increase in the number of tourists
The Turkish Minister of Agriculture - Bekir Bak Demirli - announced that the first of August witnessed the extinguishing of 107 fires out of 112 that broke out in Turkey recently, pointing out that all fires that devoured the forests of the Bodrum tourist area were extinguished.
For its part, the Russian Consulate General in Antalya stated that about 100 Russian citizens who are vacationing in Bodrum are temporarily staying in hotels far from the affected area.
The remaining five hotspots for burning are located in the provinces of Antalya and Mugla, where there are tourist resorts that are heavily visited by the Russians, but this current situation has not affected the turnout of Russian tourists to Turkey, according to the writer.
Vice-President of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, Dmitry Gorin, stated that the demand for Turkish resorts has increased by 15% based on the latest data, mainly due to the stability of the situation and the absence of the impact of fires on tourist facilities.
Gorin adds that usually 105 flights arrive in Antalya per day, but over the past two days the number of daily flights has reached 112.
A number of Russian tourists have moved to other hotels far from the fires area in Turkey (Reuters)
No danger to tourists
Gorin denied the existence of any threat to the security of Russian tourists in Turkey, as the competent Russian authorities, such as the Federal Tourism Agency, or the Russian Foreign Ministry, did not announce any new notifications or impose travel restrictions.
The Vice President of the Russian Federation of the Travel Industry - Yuri Barzykin - also announced that the fires that broke out in Antalya and Mugla did not affect travel requests.
Compensation for damaged areas
Barzykin explained that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's talk about material compensation for the residents of the areas affected by the fires does not mean that Russian tourists who were in those areas can claim compensation.
The flames had engulfed 3 of the four mountains surrounding the tourist area of Icmeler, and the fire approached the Mirage Hotel.
In neighboring Marmaris, the smell of smoke spread and it became difficult to breathe in the beach area, and a number of tourists moved to other hotels far from the area of the fires.