Indian tourists turned away from going to Türkiye and Azerbaijan
Maintaining Pakistan’s friendship has cost Türkiye and Azerbaijan so much that now the back of their tourism business has been broken. The result of speaking against India was that Indian tourists have stopped spending their money in these two countries. The situation is such that the flights and hotels which were once filled with Indians, have now started becoming silent. The huge decline in earnings has forced both these countries to think that messing with India has proved to be a big loss for their economies.
Indians’ displeasure visible in figures
According to a report by CNN-News18, Indian tourists, who once used to go there in large numbers to see the beauty of Turkey and Azerbaijan, are now shying away from going there. If we look at the data between June and December, there has been a huge decline of 63% in the number of Indians going to Azerbaijan. At the same time, the number of tourists going to Türkiye has also decreased by 34%.
About 1.53 lakh Indian tourists had reached Azerbaijan from June to December 2024, but during the same period last year, this number came down to just 57,000. Similarly, while 2.05 lakh Indians went to Türkiye in this half of 2024, last year this figure came down to 1.35 lakh. This decline makes it clear that Indian tourists are no longer hesitant in choosing for their holidays those countries which stand against India’s interests.
The game got spoiled after Operation Sindoor
The roots of this entire incident are related to the Pahalgam terrorist attack that took place in May last year and the subsequent ‘Operation Sindoor’ run by India. When the Indian Army entered Pakistan’s border and destroyed terrorist hideouts, the eyes of the whole world were on this action. At that time Türkiye and Azerbaijan had openly given statements in support of Pakistan.
Turkey not only joined Pakistan in demanding an international investigation into the Pahalgam attack, but it also came to light that a Turkish-made drone was used against India. Azerbaijan also supported Islamabad’s diplomatic stance. This attitude of these countries was not liked by the Indian people. Campaigns like ‘Boycott Turkey’ were run on social media and people expressed their displeasure, the direct effect of which is now visible in the tourism figures there.
Travel companies also pulled out
Sensing this resentment of Indians, major travel companies of the country also took a big step. Major travel websites like MakeMyTrip, EaseMyTrip and Cleartrip decided not to promote tour packages to Turkey. When these platforms stopped promoting Turkey, it became even more difficult for common travelers to plan a trip there. Also, due to the feeling of nationalism, thousands of people canceled their pre-booked tickets.
This decline is not just a matter of one month, but since May last year, the number of Indian tourists has been continuously decreasing every month. While an increase was seen in the number of people visiting Azerbaijan in the beginning of the year 2025, this graph dropped rapidly in the four months after ‘Operation Vermillion’.