RIYADH — A large number of Saudi nationals have canceled their flight reservations to Turkey where they planned to spend the summer vacation due to deteriorating security and economic conditions in the country in addition to alleged maltreatment of Saudi tourists. Some travel agencies estimated the number of Saudis who canceled their reservations to Turkish destinations at about 80 percent. The travel agents said the Saudis were now changing their destinations to more stable countries including Bosnia, Poland, Croatia where Saudi tourists would be safe and well treated. They said the Saudis changed their travel plans to Turkey because of the deteriorating economic and security conditions in the country, as well as the disappearance of a number of Saudi and GCC tourists while visiting Turkish cities. Essam Ahmed, a travel agent, said since the end of 2018 and until this month, a large number of Saudis changed their travel bookings to Turkey. Hit hard by the spate of cancellations, Ankara sent a number of delegations to the Kingdom with a view to convincing Saudis to visit their country during the summer school break by offering attractive travel packages. Raid Al-Mutairi, the head of a travel and tourist office, said more than 45 percent of reservations to Turkey were canceled while Rashid Al-Humaidani, another travel agent, estimated the number of cancellations through his office to be more than 80 percent. Humaidani said this was not a good time to travel to Turkey because of numerous cases of kidnapping, theft, disappearance and attacks against Saudis. He said they reimbursed many travelers who canceled their reservations with cash except those who used credit cards for payment. Saudi columnists and writers have been warning Saudis against traveling to Turkey in view of the current developments.
