New Delhi: June 07;
Effective 1st June ‘22, Turkiye has relaxed all the conditions for Indian travellers entering the country. Earlier, they were required to submit either a vaccination certificate of both the doses or an RT PCR test report to visit the country. Now, arriving Indian travellers no longer have to show proof of vaccination against the coronavirus or proof of recovery from the disease or a negative PCR test result.
With both Indigo as well as Turkish Airlines resuming direct international flights to Turkiye, the country is expecting to welcome the highest ever number of Indian tourists this year. With its tourism revenues doubling-up last year to almost USD 25 billion, recording 103% growth since the emergence of the pandemic, Turkiye is set to create a whole new record in 2022. It emerged as one of the top destinations for FIT and MICE tourists from around the world last year, having welcomed over 30 million international visitors in 2021. Of these, 50 thousand were Indian tourists, which was a sizable number taking the pandemic into consideration. Thus, the country is expecting full recovery in tourism for the year 2022 and is aiming to reach the pre Covid numbers in terms of international visitors including Indians.
Recently, Turkiye has also been a hot vacation destination for A-list Bollywood celebrities, with film actor Sara Ali Khan and Malaika Arora Khan being the latest to visit the country.
Turkiye ranks as the 6th highest country in the world to host international visitors annually.The country welcomed 52 million travellers in the pre-pandemic period of 2019, touching a whopping USD 34.5 billion in tourism revenue. By the end of year 2022, Turkiye is expecting its tourist numbers to return to 2019 level as international travel demand is rebounding and people are willing to travel and experience new destinations.
