Turkey's Beijing Embassy Cultural Adviser İlknur Yiğit recently announced that a record number of Chinese tourists visited Turkey in February.

Meeting with Turkish press members in Beijing, Yiğit said that the number of tourists from China that visited Turkey in February saw a rise of 83.79 percent compared to figures from the same time period the year prior. Noting that the number of Chinese tourists that have selected Turkey as a holiday destination has surpassed the 10,000 mark, Yiğit says that the rate of increase in the number of Chinese tourists to visit Turkey has now equaled that of the rate of increase in the number of tourists that come from BRICS nations combined.

According to Yiğit, Chinese tourists are most interested in the cultural aspects of Turkey, however, she emphasized that Chinese visitors are open to every aspect of tourism. Yiğit says that in 2012, a total 120,000 tourists came to Turkey from China, including from Hong Kong and Macau, and their preferred destinations in Turkey were Istanbul, Cappadocia and Izmir.

SEEKING CHINESE SPEAKING GUIDES

Underlining the necessity for tourism agencies to prepare alternative packages for Chinese tourists, Yiğit also drew attention to the lack of guides and personnel in Turkey that are able to speak Chinese. Yiğit also expressed their intentions to establish Turkey as a vacation destination brand in China; efforts of which she says are currently ongoing.

With this year being designated as 'Turkish Cultural Year' in China, the Ministry of Culture will be hosting events throughout the country in an effort to increase the number of Chinese tourists that visit Turkey.