India’s Turkey Travel Slumps in May Amid Diplomatic Backlash

Turkey is witnessing a repeat of what Maldives saw last year. As the world is opening up to Indians, travelers are now making choices that they think align with national interest, even if it means missing out on picture-perfect social media clicks.

Indian arrivals to Turkey dropped nearly 24% in May this year compared to the same month last year. Provisional data from Turkey’s Ministry of Tourism and Culture shows that the number of Indian visitors fell from 41,544 in May 2024 to 31,659 this year.

May accounted for the sharpest decline in Indian tourism to Turkey. Between January and April 2025, 83,306 Indians visited the country, this is slightly below the 84,522 recorded during the same period in 2024, a modest drop of 1.44%.

A key factor was a geopolitical development involving an armed conflict with Pakistan. Following a deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 people, most of them tourists, India carried out military strikes on terror bases in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. Turkey and Azerbaijan publicly condemned the strikes.

In response, several Indian travel firms, including PickYourTrail, Cox & Kings India, EaseMyTrip, and Go Homestays, suspended bookings to Turkey and Azerbaijan. Vacation rental company Goa Villas also announced it would no longer host Turkish citizens at its prop