Canada Tourism warms up for 2010 Winter Olympics

By Venus Lee

The Canadian Tourism Commission’s (CTC) road show in China ended last weekend, but the organization’s efforts to draw more Chinese visitors to Canada is just getting started.

The road show’s last day at the Beijing Qiaobo Ski Center featured sporting games for the media, seen as a teaser to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

“We are very proud and excited that Canada will be the focus of the world next year as it holds the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. The road show has heightened awareness of Canada as the leading four-season leisure destination,” Derek Galpin, regional director of CTC for China and Japan, said. 

“Canada will not only be a place where Chinese Olympic athletes compete for medals, but also the destination about which travel stories will excitedly be shared by Chinese tourists,e said.

The mascots of the Vancouver Olympics – Miga, Quatchi and Sumi – were present to cheer on the 40 journalists who participated in the games.

The Spring Road Show kicked off in Shanghai, made its way to Guangzhou and  came to Beijing. The eight-day show was organized by CTC in collaboration with Tourism British Columbia, Travel Alberta and Ontario Tourism.

The CTC said, China remains one of the key markets for Canadian tourism. Last year, at least 160,000 tourists and businessmen from the mainland visited Canada. This January, the number went up by 23 percent compared to the same period last year.

“The appreciation of the yuan directly reduces the cost of outbound tourism,” Galpin said.

Galpin said that the Canadian Federal Budget this year earmarked an additional CA$20 million (110 million yuan) for CTC in the next two years in order to expand their investments in emerging markets. This was on top of the commission’s annual budget of C$76 million.

“The Spring road show in China demonstrates our strong focus on the Chinese market. The additional funding for China rom the Canada Federal Budget will be channeled into a campaign to also increase awareness of Canada as a major MICE (Meetings Incentives Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) destination, with particular emphasis on corporate incentive travel,” Galpin said.