November 29, 2018•Update: November 29, 2018
By Fuat Kabakci
BEIJING
Turkey's culture and tourism minister on Thursday met his Chinese counterpart to talk about strengthening tourism cooperation with Beijing.
In a closed-door meeting, as part of his visit to the capital, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy met with Luo Shugang in Beijing.
They spoke about boosting cooperation in the field of tourism and ways to attract more Chinese tourists to Turkey, said ministry sources, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
They also discussed mutual steps for establishing a branch in China of the Yunus Emre Institute, a Turkish cultural center.
‘Expansion in cultural activities’
Later, speaking to reporters at Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, Ersoy said Turkey was keen on expanding its cultural activities in China.
Both China and Turkey are pleased due to an increase in number of Chinese tourists coming to Turkey, as 2018 was celebrated in China as the Year of Turkish Tourism, he said.
“We have decided to expand our cultural activities with various events in 2019,” Ersoy said.
“Our expectation is to reach over 1 million Chinese tourists,” he added.
