Amid escalating geopolitical tensions and growing public outrage in India, leading online travel platform Ixigo has suspended all flight and hotel bookings to Turkey, China, and Azerbaijan. The move, announced by Group CEO Aloke Bajpai on Saturday, comes in the wake of perceived anti-India stances taken by these nations in the context of the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan.
Ixigo joins travel boycott
“Enough is Enough! Blood and Bookings won’t flow together,” Bajpai declared in a strong-worded post on X (formerly Twitter), signaling a clear refusal to maintain tourism links with countries perceived to be aligning against Indian interests.
Ixigo’s decision closely follows similar actions by other prominent travel players such as EaseMyTrip and Cox & Kings. On Friday, EaseMyTrip issued an advisory urging travelers to avoid Turkey and Azerbaijan unless absolutely necessary. Cox & Kings, in a more assertive response, announced a temporary suspension of new travel offerings to Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Turkey.
Domestic players cut ties with Turkish entities
Two Indian-based hospitality brands—Goa Villas and Go Homestays—have also entered the fray. Goa Villas, known for its luxury vacation rentals, and Go Homestays, a globally operating Indian accommodation brand, have both cut services to Turkish customers.
In a public statement on X, Go Homestays said: “We are officially ending our partnership with Turkish Airlines due to their unsupportive stance towards India. Going forward, we will no longer include their flights in our international travel packages. Jai Hind.”
Goa Villas echoed the sentiment, stating it would not be offering any accommodation services to Turkish citizens “due to Turkey’s non-cooperative stance in the current global scenario involving India and Pakistan.”
Tensions flare over regional allegiances
The series of travel-related bans and suspensions follows recent expressions of solidarity by Turkey and Azerbaijan toward Pakistan, even as Islamabad faces sharp criticism for backing cross-border terrorism against India. The fallout escalated further after the Indian Armed Forces launched targeted strikes on terror infrastructure located in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
Both Turkey and Azerbaijan’s continued support for Pakistan, despite these provocations, has been seen in India as a hostile and tone-deaf move, prompting a cascading wave of action from Indian corporate and public entities alike.
As the regional diplomatic rift deepens, Indian travel companies are making it clear that commerce will not come at the cost of national sentiment—a trend that could redefine how the country’s massive travel industry engages with geopolitics in the future.
