Militants' attacks in Makhachkala and Derbent scare tourists away

After militants have committed their attacks in Makhachkala and Derbent, the number of tour bookings to Dagestan has decreased, the Russian Union of Tourist Industry (RUTI) has informed. In their turn, tourist operators suggest that tour sales will gradually normalize.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 23, in Makhachkala, militants attacked a cathedral and a traffic police (DPS) post, and in Derbent, an attack on an Orthodox Church and a synagogue was committed. As a result, 21 people perished, and 46 others were wounded.

After the attacks, the volume of tour bookings in Dagestan decreased by 5-10%, the "Kommersant" writes referring to the above RUTI.

In their turn, Ruslan Akhmedov, the director of the Tourist Centre of the Republic of Dagestan, and Aleksan Mkrtchyan, Director General of the "Pink Elephant" travel agency network, have stated that tour cancellations are rare. "The sale volume will gradually normalize," Mr Akhmedov is sure.

"Now we see just single tour cancellations, but Dagestan is so interesting to tourists that every year the sales go up by at least 30%. No other region has shown such results. Therefore, if what has happened will scare people away, but ... for a week maximum; then the flow of tourists will restore," Mr Mkrtchyan said in his turn.

The attacks could have been prevented if law enforcers had more carefully guarded religious sites in Dagestan and paid due attention to the prophylactic work, veterans of special services have indicated.