Canada’s Pacific coast port city of Vancouver is becoming a gateway for growing number of Chinese tourists coming to Canada and the United States.
In an article in the Vancouver Sun Sunday (March 16) columnist Chuck Chiang points out that tourism to Canada from different countries has seen little change or declined, but not in the case of China. Excluding Hong Kong, statistics show a jump from 165,823 Chinese tourists in 2008 to 365,314 last year.
During that period, Chiang writes: “China went from ninth place on Canada’s foreign tourist rankings to fourth — and may, if current growth trends continue, overtake France and join the U.S. and Great Britain as Canada’s biggest sources of tourism dollars.”
In 2012, Canadian authorities implemented the China Transit Program which allowed Chinese visitors to fly to Vancouver and connect to another U.S.-bound flight without a Canadian visa.
More information:
Vancouver Sun/Chuck Chiang – Chuck Chiang: Metro Vancouver is a growing gateway for Chinese tourists –here
Statistics Canada – Travellers to Canada by country of origin (2012) – here
Canada’s China Transit Program (CTP) details and eligibility – here
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