BEIJING (CIHAN) - The recent film 'Troy' based on Homer's epic The Iliad has aroused great interest in China with the result that many Chinese are considering coming to Turkey for their holidays.
The Turkish Ambassador to China , Rafet Akgünay yesterday held a reception to promote Turkey in the capital of China, Peking. The reception was attended by many Chinese tourism agencies, Turkish reporters, and by Chinese and Turkish guests.
At the reception, Ambassador Akgünay spoke about the historical city of Troy, the ruins of which are located at Hisarlik near Canakkale. In addition, he spoke about Turkey as a center of ancient civilizations, and also about Turkish history at the reception.
The Marketing Manager of the China Trade International Travel Service Center (CCITS), Chen Na spoke to Cihan's reporter after the reception. He remarked, "The tourism relations between Turkey and China are not as close as the political relations between the countries. The number of Chinese tourists who visited Turkey last year was low due to the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome' (SARS). However this year, the number of Chinese tourists traveling to Turkey during the first five months of 2004 increased."
Na stated in relation to the Troy film, "A lot of Chinese people watched this film and I think that many of them will travel to Turkey because of it."