BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's forest tourism industry yielded output of 1.15 trillion yuan (180 billion U.S. dollars) last year.

About 1.39 billion trips were made to forest and wetland parks in 2017, accounting for about 28 percent of trips made in China, according to the country's top forestry authority.

Visiting forests has become popular in China over the last five years,with revenue rising from 61.8 billion yuan in 2012 to 140 billion yuan in 2017.

The number of forest trips grew 15.5 percent annually over the past five years to total 4.6 billion, as forest-themed tourism areas increased by about 1,000 sites. Tourists go to forest parks for relaxation, sports, health care and adventure.

The booming forest tourism industry also helped alleviate poverty, adding about 3,500 yuan per household on average to about 350,000 poor families each year.