Indian tourist traffic to Turkey and Azerbaijan has sharply declined following the military confrontation between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack, a report has revealed. Among the two nations, Azerbaijan has been hit the hardest.
Baku witnessed a 56% drop in Indian visitors between May and August, while Turkey saw a 33.3% decline, as per the report by The Indian Express. Tourism is a major economic sector for both countries, which had previously seen growing numbers of Indian travellers due to increasing flight connectivity and rising popularity as vacation destinations.
Indians' Call To Boycott Turkey, Azerbaijan
The downturn followed both nations’ support for Pakistan during the four-day military standoff in May, triggering widespread calls in India to boycott travel to Turkey and Azerbaijan. Travel portals reported a steep decline in bookings and a surge in cancellations soon after Operation Sindoor.
Leading travel service providers, including MakeMyTrip, EaseMyTrip, Ixigo, and Cox & Kings, advised against non-essential travel to these destinations. MakeMyTrip noted that bookings for Azerbaijan and Turkey had fallen by 60%, while cancellations surged by 250% during the same period. “In solidarity with our nation and out of deep respect for our armed forces, we strongly support this sentiment and advise against all non-essential travel to Azerbaijan and Turkey,” the company said on May 14.
Azerbaijan Tourism Board data corroborated the decline, showing that while Indian arrivals had grown 33% year-on-year from January to April, numbers plummeted by nearly 56% in the following four months. Between May and August, Indian tourists visiting Azerbaijan fell to around 44,000 from nearly 100,000 during the same period in 2024.
