Indian firms report drop in Turkiye, Azerbaijan bookings over Pakistan support

BENGALURU: Indians are cancelling holidays in popular resorts in Turkiye and Azerbaijan after the countries supported Pakistan during its recent conflict with New Delhi, two booking firms said.

Ties between India and Pakistan nosedived after a deadly attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) last month that New Delhi said was backed by Islamabad, without offering any evidence.

Pakistan denied involvement and demanded independent and credible probe into the attack, but intense fighting broke out when India struck what it said were "terrorist camps" in Pakistan last week. They agreed a ceasefire on Saturday which has largely held.

Turkiye and Azerbaijan, popular budget holiday destinations for Indians, issued statements backing Islamabad after India's strikes.

"Bookings for Azerbaijan and Turkiye decreasing by 60% (over the last week) while cancellations have surged by 250% during the same period," a spokesperson for MakeMyTrip MMYT.O said.

EaseMyTrip's EASM.NS 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 Turkiye last year and 243,000 visited Azerbaijan.