UPDATE: Russia travel ban on Turkey means multibillion losses for tour firms

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MOSCOW, Nov 25 (PRIME) – Russian tour firms’ losses from a ban on Turkish tourism may amount to millions of U.S. dollars and exceed losses from prohibition of travelling to Egypt, if the ban lasts for a couple of months, the Association of Tour Operators said in a statement on Wednesday.

“It is premature to speak about significant losses for the business yet, because November is an off-season in Turkey. But if the conflict worsens and the ban on sales lasts for two to three months, the losses in tourism will exceed losses caused by the ban on flights to Egypt a lot,” the association said.

Russian tour operators have already estimated their losses from suspended sales of package tours to Turkey at 1.7 billion rubles, it said.

On Tuesday, Russia’s Sukhoi Su-24 fighter jet was shot down by an air-to-air Turkish missile and crashed in Syria.

After that, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recommended that Russian tourists do not visit Turkey in the near future due to “increasing terrorism threat” in that country and the Federal Agency for Tourism recommended that domestic tour operators suspend sales of package tours to Turkey, including those with flights via third countries.

BANNED CHICKEN

The Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight stopped imports of 162 tonnes of chicken meat from Turkey, whose veterinary certificates failed to meet Russian requirements, in the Russian Western exclave of Kaliningrad.

The watchdog said that the seal number in certificates did not correspond to the seal number on containers with products and that the service was waiting for additional information from the Turkish state veterinary service.

The Kaliningrad Region said that Russian companies satisfy almost all regional demand for poultry.

The Russian veterinary watchdog has already imposed restrictions on poultry supplies from Turkish company C.P. Standart Gida Sanayi ve Ticaret Anonim Sirkorti, the importer of banned chicken, from December 1, while the service found out that company’s products are infested with listeria.

Shamhal Ildarov, the president of the Russian Association of Textile Workers, has sent a letter to the government asking it to call on clients to stop buying textile and light industry products produced in Turkey.

He also asked the government to consider sanctions on these products until details of the downing of a Russian fighter jet by Turkey have been investigated.

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