It’s a great news
for the chairman and managing director of the vineyard Canadian Flower WineryVictor Shou, who indicates that Chinese tourists usually represent nearly 40% of his clientele.
He explains that these tourists can spend several thousand dollars on products which they then ship to China to family and friends.000dollars per visit to our vineyard. Many tourists have no idea what an icewine tastes like before visiting Canada”,”text”:”Icewine is among the most popular among Chinese tourists. They can spend from 200 to 30000 dollars per visit in our vineyard. Many tourists have no idea what ice wine tastes like before visiting Canada”}}”>Icewine is among the [vins les] most popular with Chinese tourists. They can spend $200 to $30,000 per visit to our vineyard. Many tourists have no idea what icewine tastes like before visiting Canada.
According to Destination BC, travelers from China formed the second largest foreign tourist market for the province in 2019 with 333,837 visits that year. They were also the biggest consumers, spending an average of $2021 each.
The Market Development Manager for Asia Pacific and Mexico with Destination BCMonica Leeck, indicates that the operators were waiting looking forward
the reopening of China.
For the past few weeks, as things are starting to reopen, there has been an increase in requests for travel
she explains, adding that the province hopes to be able to welcome people quickly
.
Since Sunday, Beijing has withdrawn the mandatory quarantine in a hotel upon arrival in the country, which also included tourists returning home.
Declining number of flights
The general manager of the travel agency Formosa TravelCharles Chang, thinks however that it will be necessary to wait several months before Chinese tourism resumes as before since the number of flights between Canada and China remains low. If the number of flights from China is not sufficient, the number of tourists will not increase.
According to airport authorities at Vancouver International Airport, 75 flights arrived weekly in 2019 from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Last year, this number rather varied between 6 and 16 weekly flights.
For the Chinese New Year period, which will be celebrated on January 22, about 34 flights from China are expected per week.
According to Nancy SmallPresident and CEO of Tourism Richmondthe return of the Chinese tourist market will take time, in particular because of the availability of flights, but also because of the need for revive the taste of travel
.
All this put together means that the situation will not change overnight. But when the tourists return, we will be ready to welcome them as we always have.
she says, estimating that it could take up to 6 months.
With information from The Canadian Press