11/08/2019 16:39

Birds Are Not Allowed

[IMG=18844-4478] At a press conference held on the 18th of January, The Turkish Ambassador to The Russian Federation pleaded with the mass media not to over-dramatize the outbreak of bird flu in Turkey: ‘There are neither wild nor domestic birds near the hotels where Russian tourists stay, some hotels have excluded chicken dishes from their menu, and moreover – no cases of human-to-human transmission have been registered’ said the Ambassador. He also pointed out that according to his information sources, very few tourists have so far cancelled their trips to Turkey. In 2005 1,864,000 Russian tourists visited Turkey - and the number is forecast to increase this year. Experts interviewed by a BANKO correspondent agree that at the moment bird flu will not dramatically reduce the flow of tourists to Turkey. Gennadyi Kosarev, General Director of Fresh Travel observed that: ‘Even now, when the information about bird flu outbreak is actively discussed in mass media, the flow of tourists to Turkey has not decreased’. Meanwhile, MarinaMantula, Sales Director Deputy of Detour tour company, suggested that: ‘Last week 15% of our tours to Turkey were cancelled by our tourists - but now the situation has stabilized’. And Ilya Itkin, General Director of PAK Group added: ‘At present we can say that sales have stabilized. Even those who had cancelled their trips to Turkey have changed their minds’. Itkin believes that positive information from journalists and travel companies’ representatives who had visited Turkey has improved the situation. However, some companies are feeling the effects of tour cancellations. For example, the Director of the travel agency Gabi-Travel, Oleg Kojemyaka, has had to pay a refund for a cancelled tour to Palandoken to the travel company Prestige Tour. According to Kojemyaka, the tour operator claimed 50% of accommodation costs and 100% of ticket costs; Kojemyaka plans to contest the amount in the Court of Arbitration.