Feature: Paragliding attracts rising number of Chinese tourists to Turkey's Fethiye

Pan Lizhou, a backpacker from China, enjoyed his honeymoon with his wife in Turkey by flying high over the southern ancient town of Fethiye, a world-known attraction for paragliding events.

The newlyweds, who were on a self-guided tour across Turkey, said that their paragliding adventure in Fethiye was one of the highlights of their honeymoon trip.

"We were really impressed by the flight, the view was breathtaking from above in the sky. We will definitely recommend it to our friends," said Pan.

Paragliding is an adventurous sport where pilots only take a lightweight, free-flying and foot-launched glider aircraft to take off, fly and land. Every October, gliding fans from all over the world flock to the resorts of the Oludeniz Sea in Fethiye to attend the yearly event of Oludeniz Air Games.

This year's air games, in its 20th edition, lasts from Oct. 15-20. It has drawn some 1,200 licensed pilots from over 70 countries to participate in the event to showcase their flying techniques.

On Oct. 15 when the festival kicked off, hundreds of pilots jumped from the top of the nearly 2,000-meter-high Mountain Babadag, which overlooks the Oludeniz resorts, to land on the beach. Some of them were doing freestyle tricks like spiral diving and helicopter, while others flew in formation with their teammates.

The paragliders, in various colors and designs, decorated the vast expanse of the mountain ranges and the blue sky, which served as a backdrop for the sensational picture, from dawn to dusk.

"It is spectacular," said a British tourist who preferred to be unnamed.

Celal Yildiz, an organizer of the event, said the appropriate weather conditions and the unique views are the main reasons that made the place famous for being one of the perfect location for paragliding.

"Safe paragliding requires strict weather conditions. In the Oludeniz and Mountain Babadag area, it is sunny and the sky is clear for over 300 days of a year. Besides, the air flow here is gentle and stable," said Yildiz.

He added that experienced pilots and company experts will evaluate the weather conditions before the flights, if the weather may cause danger, the flights will be cancelled.

The local authorities also impose other restrictions, such as weight limit of the passengers and the maximum number of daily flights a pilot can conduct, he explained.

Over 10 Chinese pilots have also taken part in the games. Lin Xin, a stunt pilot and a paragliding coach from Beijing, said he has been attending the Oludeniz Air Games every year.

"The annual event in Fethiye is one of the best opportunities around the world for paragliding pilots to meet and communicate with each other," said Lin. "People compete and share with others at the same time, the atmosphere is just great."

Gao Yang, another pilot from China's eastern city of Nanjing, said he was able to observe the earth with a bird-eye view through paragliding, which explains why he has fallen in love with the sport.

The world-class events and local enthusiasm toward paragliding have also promoted tourism. Fethiye is expected to receive more than 100,000 travelers this year, where the contribution of Chinese tourists have been on the rise in recent years, said Ye Lei, owner of Sky Star, a local travel agency.

Some Chinese celebrities were seen taking paragliding flights in Fethiye on reality TV shows, which leads to an increase in the number of Chinese tourists visiting the city, she added.

To cope with the rise in Chinese tourists, direct flights between China's southwestern city of Chengdu and the Turkish city of Dalaman, where Fethiye is located, will be launched soon.

Local governments also pledged to set up Chinese language signs to help Chinese tourists, according to Alim Karaca, mayor of Fethiye.

China, in turn, also learns from the success of Fethiye in attracting tourists.

"The way that Fethiye integrates sports into local tourism has served as an example for China's southwestern province of Guizhou, which possesses similar geographical environment like Fethiye and is also suitable for mountain sports including paragliding," said Wu Tao, director of the Sports Administration of Guizhou Province, who headed a Chinese delegation to Fethiye.

Local governments and companies of Guizhou and Fethiye are mulling cooperation in sectors such as conducting pilot training of paragliding in the future, Wu added.