Turkey most searched holiday destination on Yandex among Russian tourists: Official

Turkey is the most searched holiday destination on Yandex among Russian tourists, the search engine's commerce director, Maxim Grishakov, said at the World Tourism Forum on Dec. 10 in the southern resort of Antalya.

"When we analyze the holiday searches Russians have made, we saw that interest in Turkey has gained momentum. There has been a 32 percent increase in searches for Turkey in the travel category in 2016 compared to the same period last year. Turkey has become the most searched holiday destination in 2016, leaving Tunisia and Greece behind," Grishakov said. 

Among the most searched holiday destinations in Turkey was Antalya's Kemer, followed by the province's Side district and the Mediterranean province of Marmaris. 

Grishakov encouraged tourism experts to use Yandex's advertising platforms to contact their customers and emphasized the need for tourism ties between the two countries.

"There is a great tourism potential between Russia and Turkey. As Yandex, we are continuing to develop advertising solutions that focus on this potential. Both Russian and Turkish tourism companies can advertise their offers in the most productive ways by cooperating with Yandex. Yandex is being preferred by growing numbers of users in Turkey day by day. We are certain that we will be one of the most effective mediums in performance advertising fields in Turkish markets," Grishakov added.