A growing online campaign urging Indians to boycott travel to Turkey and Azerbaijan over their support for Pakistan during ongoing tensions is beginning to bite.
Indian tourists are cancelling trips in large numbers. MakeMyTrip, the country’s largest travel portal, reported a 60% drop in bookings and a 250% surge in cancellations to the two countries over the past week.
While MMT continues to offer flight bookings, it has halted promotions for Turkey and Azerbaijan. “We stand in solidarity with our nation and strongly advise against non-essential travel to these destinations,” the platform said on May 14.
EaseMyTrip co-founder Nishant Pitti, who previously called for a boycott of both nations, doubled down on May 14—urging Indians to also reject Chinese products and sites, and calling out celebrities endorsing them. “National interest > personal convenience or profit. Time to walk the talk,” he wrote on X.
Since EaseMyTrip’s May 9 advisory, cancellations to Turkey hit 22% and Azerbaijan over 30%, though the platform is allowing existing bookings to avoid passenger inconvenience, especially for those using Turkey as a transit hub.
Despite the backlash, India has been a growing tourist market for both countries—over 243,000 Indians visited Azerbaijan in 2024, up from just 4,800 in 2014. Turkey saw over 330,000 Indian arrivals this year, compared to 119,000 a decade ago.
The boycott gathered steam after Turkey and Azerbaijan condemned India’s airstrikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Since then, Indian social media has seen hashtags like #BoycottTurkey and #BoycottAzerbaijan trend, alongside calls to avoid Turkish Airlines and pressure on IndiGo to sever its codeshare ties.
