Upset Indians axe Turkey, Azerbaijan from travel plans

Indians angry with Turkey and Azerbaijan that supported Pakistan in the recent military conflict are voting with their feet, cancelling travel to the two countries and rescheduling summer plans to friendlier locales.

- Varuni Khosla

Indians angry with Turkey and Azerbaijan that supported Pakistan in the recent military conflict are voting with their feet, cancelling travel to the two countries and rescheduling summer plans to friendlier locales. Hotel bookings from India to Turkey fell 31% from a year earlier in the first fortnight of May, data from travel analytics firm RateGain shared exclusively with Mint showed, indicating a reshaping of travel intentions. This was driven by a complete halt in family leisure travel and a 65% decline in non-family leisure stays.

Business travel bucked the trend slightly, rising 7%. Flight bookings plunged 61%, with business travel down 54%, leisure family trips 80%, and non-family leisure travel 56%.

"We are witnessing an increasing trend of travel being impacted due to social media chatter. Visa-free travel first made Azerbaijan and Turkey famous travel destinations, and now, the ongoing conflict has collectively created a negative impact on bookings. We saw this last year with Maldives as well and might see more instances of this in the future," said Ankit Chaturvedi, vice-president and global head of marketing at RateGain.

At one of India's largest travel agencies, travel bookings to the two countries have plunged 90%. "The company is helping people opt for other destinations as costs associated with cancellations can be quite high. Since most travellers are aware of that, they are opting to change their plans to other destinations instead. So, while there is some impact, it's not translating into widespread cancellations; instead rebookings to other countries," the company's managing director said on the condition of anonymity.