New Delhi [India], May 14 (ANI): EaseMyTrip Co-Founder Prashant Pitti on Wednesday said the national interest comes first and the business interest later, echoing the call for boycotting Turkey and Azerbaijan, after these countries openly supported Pakistan during the recent conflict with India.

Turkey and Azerbaijan have rallied behind Pakistan despite its support for cross-border terrorism against India and its aggression after the Indian Armed Forces struck nine terror infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.

Azerbaijan, in its statement on India-Pakistan tensions, has echoed the Pakistani line. Turkey expressed its solidarity with Pakistan and supported Islamabad's proposal for an international investigation into the Pahalgam terror attack. Turkey has also supplied military weapons to Pakistan.

'As a company, EaseMyTrip, we always think of the nation first and business later,' Prashant Pitti told ANI in an interview.

Even in early 2024, EaseMyTrip had cancelled bookings for the Maldives. India's relations with the archipelago soured following some derogatory remarks by Maldivian officials against India and its leadership.

'We took a national stand and for nine months we did not work with Maldives, only when our External Affairs Minister visited Maldives, we allowed to restart Maldives bookings,' Pitti said.

'Similarly, in the events which are happening right now where there is an ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan, even though there is a ceasefire, the ceasefire are also getting violated. We are seeing the countries like Azerbaijan and Turkey standing on the wrong side of history. Pakistan is clearly caught at the funeral of UN-designated terrorists,' he added.

'We have seen Pakistan army and personnel standing over there, standing shoulder and shoulders with them. But what more proof does the world need to qualify Pakistan as a rogue nation. And yet there are some countries which are supporting them, which are even providing them drones to attack on India. As a travel advisory, we have decided to issue a travel advisory to all our passengers to not to travel to Turkey and Azerbaijan because it is only going to come back and bite us,' he continued.

This time, Pitti said EaseMyTrip did not cancel the flights voluntarily to Turkey and Azerbaijan but instead issued a travel advisory.

Turkey serves as a key layover for Indians travelling Europe and the US.

'People go to Turkey and then immediately they take another flight to go to US or Europe which is why we could not differentiate who is going to Turkey and who is not going to Turkey,' Pitti said.

Despite, since the boycott Turkey and Azerbaijan gathered steam, 22 per cent people have cancelled their bookings to Turkey and another 30 per cent cancelled their flights to Azerbaijan, Pitti said.

'These numbers are going to rise,' Pitti said.

Last year, 2.5 lakh Indians travelled to Turkey and another 2.3 travelled to Azerbaijan. These extrapolates to about Rs 5,000 crore revenue loss for these two countries, Pitti estimated, given one traveller would have spent on an average Rs 1 lakh during their stay.

'We put out an advisory requesting people to avoid travelling to these countries. We are happy that many other travel agencies have accepted our standpoint. It is because of our efforts that boycott Turkey and boycott Azerbaijan are trending,' Pitti further said.

Echoing similar sentiments, Subhash Goyal, Chairman, Tourism Committee, Indian Chamber of Commerce, said they remain committed to promoting ethical, responsible, and respectful business and tourism practices, while upholding the values of integrity, security, and unity of our country.

'Several tourism associations and industry bodies have issued statements of solidarity and collective commitment towards prioritising our national interest over commercial goals. The Indian Chamber of Commerce joins these organisations in demanding a boycott of states like Turkey and Azerbaijan, following their stand against India's response to terrorism. Tourism is a force for good and a driver of peace, global harmony and international understanding,' Goyal said.

'The safety and integrity of our citizens has to be prioritized above all else. There is so much beauty in the world, we appeal to Indians traveling overseas to choose destinations that are safe, promote peace and are aligned with India's commitment against terrorism and separatist activities,' he added.

Talking to ANI virtually, Jyoti Mayal, Former President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), said, as per reports, 50 per cent of bookings to these countries have been cancelled.

'Indian travellers have immensely helped Turkey and Azerbaijan in their tourism sector in the past years. People have now on their own decided to avoid travelling to these countries. As per reports, 50 per cent of bookings were cancelled,' she said.

'Currently, there have been huge cancellations. We as travel agents are not supporting this at all and we are trying to say that no one should travel to these countries,' she added. (ANI)