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ISTANBUL, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkey has been looking forward to the arrival of Russian tourists with the resumption of air travel between the two countries, some Turkish tourism sector representatives said Thursday.

Turkish transport and infrastructure minister Adil Karaismailoglu announced on Wednesday that the two countries had agreed to resume their mutual flights after three and a half months of suspension due to COVID-19.

"The agreement promised hope for the future of the Turkish tourism sector, which has been passing through challenging times due to the spread of coronavirus," Firuz Baglikaya, head of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, told Xinhua.

He noted that Russia is the most important market for Turkey's tourism industry, and it has a strategic significance for the Mediterranean and Aegean regions, which are among the most popular destinations of Russian tourists in the country.

Due to the pandemic, the number of foreign tourists visiting Turkey started to plummet rapidly from March onwards. According to the latest official data, nearly 30,000 tourists visited the country in May this year, down from 4 million visitors during the same period in 2019.

Turkey hosted 45 million tourists last year, including over 5 million Russian travelers, generating a total of 34.5 billion U.S. dollars of revenue.

"Russian tourists act as a locomotive in the development of our country's tourism," Baglikaya stressed, noting that Turkey would be happy to host its Russian guests and do its best to make them return to their country with good memories.

Turkey has so far resumed international flights with 32 countries, including Russia, and has been negotiating with 20 others, according to Karaismailoglu.

Burhan Sili, president of the Alanya Tourism Operators Association, told reporters that Turkey's tour operators in Russia are planning to launch their "charter" flights by the end of July.

"That means that we will see a vital dynamism in the region that would increase the morale and motivation of the industry," Sili was quoted as saying by the Demiroren news agency on Thursday.

With its five-star hotels and holiday villages, Alanya, a district of the Mediterranean province of Antalya, is the most preferred location of Russian tourists.

Meanwhile, Turkey's national flag carrier, Turkish Airlines, told Xinhua on Thursday that it has been waiting for a green light from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to be able to resume its scheduled flights with Russia.

Turkish airline companies had partially resumed their domestic operations on June 1 and international flights on June 11, in line with the easing of the COVID-19 measures.