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The number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey saw a 76.2 percent decline in 2016, plummeting to 866,256, reads a report revealed by Turkey’s Statistics Institute (TUIK).

Russia has been the second largest source of foreign tourists visiting Turkey, but the number of Russian tourists began to decline after a diplomatic crisis between the two countries in late 2015. However, there has been a notable increase in arrivals from Russia since the normalization bilateral ties between the two countries in mid 2016.

This year, Turkish tourism sector expects to receive from three to five million Russian tourists.

Necet Kockar, chairman of Anex Tour, one of the leading tour operators in Russia, recently told Daily Sabah that they expect the number of tourists coming to Turkey to reach 5 million as relations go back to normal and Russians have not been satisfied with the service quality in the alternative countries they have chosen last year.

He noted that Anex Tour plans to bring 1 million of that number to Turkey. "We are receiving early reservations, five times higher than 2015, proving that our guests missed Turkey," Kockar said.

Meanwhile, Russian Sberbank and Turkish Denizbank intend to implement the ruble payment system in the tourism sector.

CEO of Denizbank, Hakan Ates said the relations between Russian and Turkish banks contribute to the development of partnership between the two countries.

“We offer Russian tourists different kinds of the tourist services. We are grateful to Sberbank for that it does not charge any fees,” he said.

Atesh said that currently some tour operators are ready to provide their services to Russian tourists, who will pay not in the lira, but in the Russian rubles.

Overall, the number of foreigners visiting Turkey dropped to 25.3 million in 2016. That is a 30 percent drop compared to 2015.

Turkey’s tourism revenue dropped to $22.1 billion in 2016, a 29.7 percent decrease compared to 2015, as the number of foreign arrivals to the country witnessed a dramatic plunge, the official data showed.

Turkey’s Tourism Ministry confirmed that the drop is correlated to a number of terrorist attacks and to the “failed” military coup on July 15, 2016.

TUIK said that the country’s tourism revenue has dropped to $22.1 billion in 2016; a 29.7 percent decrease compared to 2015. While some 72.8 percent of the revenue was obtained from foreign visitors, the remaining 27.2 percent was obtained from Turkish citizens who reside abroad.

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