In the aftermath of Operation Sindoor and the ensuing hostilities earlier this year, India’s tourism footprint in Turkey and Azerbaijan has witnessed a dramatic collapse.
Both nations, which had openly aligned themselves with Pakistan during the May conflict, have seen Indian visitor arrivals nosedive, marking one of the sharpest short-term declines in outbound travel from India in recent years.
According to the latest official data, Azerbaijan has been the hardest hit, recording a 56% fall in tourist arrivals from India between May and August, while Turkey saw its Indian inflow shrink by 33.3% during the same period.
This sharp reversal comes as a major setback for both countries, which had emerged as increasingly popular destinations for Indian travellers.
Over the past few years, they had invested heavily in promoting leisure tourism and had benefited from expanding air connectivity, with Istanbul evolving into a key transit hub for Indian flyers heading to Europe and beyond.
However, their open diplomatic support for Islamabad during the brief but intense conflict in May triggered an immediate backlash in India. Calls to boycott Turkey and Azerbaijan gained momentum on social media, and the effects soon rippled through the travel sector.
Tourism Industry Reacts Swiftly
Within days of the hostilities, leading Indian travel portals reported a sharp dip in new bookings for both destinations and an unprecedented surge in cancellations.
Major service providers such as Ixigo and Cox & Kings even suspended flight and hotel packages to these countries, while others began advising customers against travelling there.
Prominent platforms like MakeMyTrip and EaseMyTrip went a step further by publicly discouraging non-essential travel. In a statement issued on May 14,
MakeMyTrip said: Indian travellers have expressed strong sentiments over the past week, with bookings for Azerbaijan and Turkey falling by 60%, while cancellations have soared by 250%.
In solidarity with our nation and in respect for our armed forces, we support this sentiment and have discontinued all promotions related to these two destinations.”
Steep Drop in Visitor Numbers
The data tells a striking story. According to the Azerbaijan Tourism Board, Indian tourist arrivals, which had surged 33% year-on-year during January–April 2025, collapsed by 56% in the subsequent four months.
Visitor numbers fell to around 44,000 during May–August, compared with nearly 100,000 in the same period last year.
Before Operation Sindoor, Azerbaijan had welcomed around 81,000 Indian visitors in the first four months of 2025, up from 61,000 a year earlier.
But after the conflict, the total number of Indian tourists for the January–August period plunged 22% year-on-year to 1.25 lakh.
The decline also altered India’s position as a key source market. Once among the top five contributors to Azerbaijan’s tourism industry, India slipped to 11th place by August.
Only 6,032 Indians visited Azerbaijan that month — a staggering 72% drop from 21,137 in August 2024.
This comes after years of remarkable growth: from 4,853 Indian visitors in 2014 to 2.44 lakh in 2024.
Turkey Also Feels the Impact
Data from Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism paints a similar picture.
Between May and August 2025, Indian tourist arrivals dropped by one-third to about 90,400, compared with nearly 1.36 lakh in the same months last year.
During the first four months of 2025, Indian tourist numbers to Turkey stood at 83,300, almost unchanged from 84,500 in the same period in 2024. But the post-May fallout dragged total arrivals for January–August down 21% year-on-year, to 1.74 lakh.
By comparison, the January–August 2024 period had seen a 28.5% increase over 2023, continuing a steady growth trend.
For the full year 2024, 3.31 lakh Indian nationals travelled to Turkey — up 21% from 2.74 lakh in 2023, and significantly higher than 2.32 lakh in 2022.
Aviation Data Reflects the Decline
Figures from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) underline how travel patterns have shifted.
In 2024, 5.05 lakh passengers flew on direct routes between India and Turkey, representing a 15% rise over 2023 — many of them using Istanbul as a transit point.
Similarly, direct passenger traffic between India and Azerbaijan had jumped from 28,899 in 2023 to 80,567 in 2024 as new flights were introduced, triggering a tourism boom.
However, much of that progress has now been erased, as Indian travellers increasingly avoid the country in protest.
While these passenger figures include some non-Indian nationals, the proportion of foreign travellers remains small, indicating that the fall in Indian tourism has had a direct and disproportionate impact on both economies.
The sharp dip in tourist traffic to Turkey and Azerbaijan highlights the intersection of geopolitics and consumer sentiment — where diplomatic postures can swiftly translate into real economic costs.
Once seen as emerging favourites among Indian holidaymakers, both countries now face the challenge of repairing their image and rebuilding confidence in one of Asia’s fastest-growing outbound tourism markets.
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