Vancouver Targets 50% Growth in Chinese Visitor Arrivals by 2015

Thursday’s signing of the Approved Destination Status agreement with China cements Vancouver’s importance as a gateway to Canada for the burgeoning Chinese market, and puts the city in a position to receive significant increases in visitation.

“ADS puts us on a level playing field with other destinations that are competing aggressively for the growing Chinese travel market,” said Stephen Pearce, vice president of Leisure Travel and Digital Marketing for Tourism Vancouver. “Canada can now communicate directly to the consumer in China which will increase our profile across all market segments.”

“We have seen year-over-year growth from the Chinese tourism market and Vancouver now welcomes over 90,000 visitors per year from mainland China, with another 70,000 from Hong Kong,” he added. “This is an incredibly important market and ADS will allow us to tap its full potential. Our goal is to grow this market by at least 50% by 2015.”

Visitors currently coming to Canada from China are travelling for business, government and educational purposes. Individual tourism travel is also permitted. However, ADS allows Canada to host group tours and to market the destination in China with offers to the tour and travel community, complete with pricing information.

Pearce will join Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson in Shanghai and Guangzhou in September as part of the Mayor’s visit to the Vancouver Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010.

The Canadian tourism industry has been preparing for ADS for several years by training Chinese tour operators and agents, hosting media and travel industry familiarization tours, attending trade shows, and working with inbound receptive tour operators to develop high-quality travel itineraries ready for the Chinese group travel market.

The opening of the Canadian Tourism Commission office in Beijing in 2005 marked the beginning of a period of sustained investment in China by the Canadian tourism industry in preparing the infrastructure for increased visitation.

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