The expert admitted an increase in prices for tours to Turkey and Egypt due to the war in Iran

The recommendation of the Ministry of Economic Development to suspend sales of tours to six Persian Gulf countries will deal a significant blow to the tourism industry, Maria Belyakova, Dean of the Faculty of Hospitality and Sports Industry at the RANEPA, told Izvestia.

"Operators spend over 500 million rubles a day on the maintenance of stranded tourists. Expenses exceeded 2.5 billion rubles in the first week of March," the source said.

All this leads to a change in tourist flows. Middle Eastern destinations, where up to 30% of the outbound flow was concentrated in winter, will "lose" key dates in the near future — March 8, May holidays and school holidays, the expert did not rule out.

Demand is already flowing to Egypt, where a one-week tour for two costs from 90 thousand rubles. With prolonged restrictions, logistical costs will increase the prices of tours to Turkey and Egypt, accelerating market consolidation in favor of domestic destinations, Belyakova admitted.

Read more about how the war in the Middle East affects the tourism industry in Russia in the Izvestia article.

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