Turkey hopes to receive up to 4 mln Russian tourists in 2011

ANKARA, April 25 (Itar-Tass) -- Turkey hopes to receive up to four
million Russian tourists, the Anatolian Agency reported on Sunday citing a
spokesman for the Turkish ministry of culture and tourism.
According to the spokesman, the tourist flow will inevitably increase
once visa restriction are lifted. A relevant Russian-Turkish agreement
came into force on April 16, 2011. Under the agreement, no visas will be
needed for holders of ordinary foreign passports to stay on Russia's or
Turkey's territory for 30 days.
"In average, about three million tourists from Russia visit Turkey a
year. We expect the figure to near four million this year. The tourist
flow growth is expected to exceed 20 percent. Apart from tourism, the
abolition of visas will have a positive effect on other spheres," the
spokesman said.
Statistics show, he noted, that even in low season, i.e. from January
to March 2011, the number of Russian tourists went up by 40 percent as
compared with the same period last year. The number of hotel reservations
in summer have increased by 20 percent as of now.
"Citizens of the bulk of world countries, especially in the European
Union, travel freely, since there are no borders and visas. And there are
no problems because of that. I don't think we (Russia and Turkey) will
have any big problems," he added.