Chinese visitors to Canada up 22% in Q1 2015

Chinese tourists visiting Canada increased by 22 percent on a year-on-year basis in the first quarter of 2015, according to Derek Galpin, chief representative of the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) in China, who said during his interview on June 12.

Derek Galpin said, the Chinese outbound tourists rose by 18 percent on a year-on-year basis in 2014. The Chinese tourists visiting Canada in 2014 achieved a year-on-year increase of 30 percent. CTC will promote its more tourism resources to young Chinese tourists, who account for a high proportion of the Chinese tourists visiting Canada, underlined Derek Galpin.

CTC attaches importance to online promotion. Its online program "Canada Keep Exploring" will invite the well-known model and actor Godfrey Gao to shoot. In the program, Gao will show audiences his travel experiences in Canada such as to taste Canadian gourmet, drink Canadian wine as well as participating the cultural events and festivals held in Canada.

The acclaimed Chinese environmentalist Xi Zhinong and the teenagers from China will also come to Canada to give an interview, introducing their environmental experiences to call on people to protect the natural environment.

Canada has become a world-famous destination for holding Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE). Many industries such as medical care and machinery choose to hold MICE events in Canada, which has convenient traffic and transportation as well as professional exhibition infrastructures.

Starting on Sept 29, Air China, one of the China's leading carriers, will launch a direct Beijing-Montreal air service, the first trans-Pacific direct link between Asia and Montreal. Three flights, numbered CA879 and CA880, will be available on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Boeing 777-300ER type aircrafts will operate on the air route and Air Canada will place its code on the flights on a code-share basis.