Istanbul Central Square Blast ‘Major Blow’ to Tourism

Yasar Yavuz, the head of the Sultanahmet Tourism Business Owners Association said that most tourists in Istanbul are looking up flights to return after deadly blast on Sultanahmet Square in downtown Istanbul.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Tuesday’s deadly blast on Sultanahmet Square in downtown Istanbul will negatively affect the Turkish tourism industry in 2016, the head of the Sultanahmet Tourism Business Owners Association said Tuesday.

"This incident is a major blow to tourism activities in the area. Most tourists are looking up flights to return. We will probably receive cancelation requests after this evening," Yasar Yavuz told the Hurriyet daily.

There are about 7,000 hotels in the area and many tourists intend to leave following the explosion, he noted.

"There have already been some who started looking up flights to leave the country. 2016 is over for us with this incident," Yavuz outlined.

The explosion claimed the lives of 10 people and injured 15 others.

Most of the deceased in the attack in Istanbul's historic center were foreign citizens, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said earlier in the day.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the incident a terrorist act, adding that it was perpetrated by a Syrian suicide bomber, born in 1988.