Indians are cancelling holidays in popular resorts in Turkey and Azerbaijan after the countries supported Pakistan during its recent conflict with New Delhi, two booking firms said.
Turkey and Azerbaijan, popular budget holiday destinations for Indians, issued statements backing Islamabad after India’s strikes.
“Bookings for Azerbaijan and Turkey decreasing by 60% (over the last week) while cancellations have surged by 250% during the same period,” a spokesperson for MakeMyTrip said.
EaseMyTrip’s Chief Executive Officer, Rikant Pittie, said the platform had seen a 22% rise in cancellations for Turkey and 30% for Azerbaijan “due to recent geopolitical tensions”.
Travellers had switched to Georgia, Serbia, Greece, Thailand and Vietnam, he added.
Another ticketing platform, ixigo, earlier said in a post on X that it would be suspending flight and hotel bookings for Turkey, Azerbaijan and China.
EaseMyTrip’s founder and chairman, Nishant Pitti, said in a post on X that 287,000 Indians visited Turkey last year and 243,000 visited Azerbaijan.
“When these nations openly support Pakistan, should we fuel their tourism and their economies?” Pitti said.
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Pakistan on Tuesday “strongly condemned” what it termed “provocative and inflammatory” remarks made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent address.
“The portrayal of Pakistan as seeking a ceasefire in ‘despair and frustration’ is yet another blatant lie,” the FO said.
However, Trump expressed a desire to collaborate on finding a resolution regarding Kashmir on Monday.
This came in the wake of Indian airstrikes allegedly targeting terror infrastructure across the Line of Control, under the banner of “Operation Sindoor” on May 7, following the Pahalgam attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, which left over two dozen people dead.
India blamed Pakistan for this attack; however, Pakistan denied the links to it.
Also, India started a war against Pakistan, Indian sources claimed that Pakistan targeted 26 military locations, including key airbases, in a massive retaliatory operation launched after earlier Indian strikes on Pakistani airfields on May 10.
After the ceasefire, on May 13, the Pakistan military announced the martyrdom of 40 civilians and 11 personnel.
