One of China's largest leisure media sources, Global Times Global Travel Weekly, presented Turkey with the "Most Welcoming Destination for Chinese Families in 2018" award at a ceremony held in Beijing on Wednesday.

Ali Ünal, the press attaché of the Turkish Embassy in Beijing, was presented the award on behalf of Turkey.

Global Times has been organizing the award ceremony since 2009 in an attempt to provide more choices for outbound Chinese tourists. According to national statistics, around 130 million Chinese tourists traveled around the world last year and spent $115.2 billion. In the first half of this year, 80 million Chinese people traveled abroad.

In the report for the award ceremony, Global Times drew attention to the increasing number of Chinese visitors to Turkey, having developed an interest for Turkey's heritage sites, natural beauty and world-renowned cuisine.

The increasing efforts to promote Turkish tourism in China with the declaration of Turkey Tourism Year in the Asian country have led to a rise in the figure

s. From January to September this year, some 302,952 Chinese visitors came to Turkey, an 83 percent jump compared to the same period of last year. The number slightly exceeded 250,000 in 2017. The Culture and Tourism Ministry established a China Affairs Office, specializing in Chinese tourists, which deals with questions related to health issues and other problems that Chinese tourists may encounter during their visit to Turkey.