Turkey aims to woo 1 million Chinese this year

Turkey's beleaguered tourism sector aims to attract over 1 million Chinese this year to compensate for the dwindling foreign arrivals from Europe and Russia, tourism professionals say.

"Turkey should urgently expand its target market to China as the country faces one of its worst years when it comes to tourism," says Cetin Gurcun, secretary general of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies.

Repeated terror attacks in Istanbul, Ankara and other Turkish cities amid a deteriorating security situation, coupled with poor relations with Russia, have brought down the number of foreign travelers and revenues to an extent that is being felt by all in the industry.