June 22, 2018
Representatives from the NWT’s tourism industry are travelling to China with the goal of placing the NWT at top-of-mind for visitors travelling from the industry’s largest market.
Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment Wally Schumann is leading the NWT delegation, which will join the federal-provincial-territorial Canada-China Tourism Mission led by federal Minister of Small Business and Tourism Bardish Chagger.
There is added cultural significance in China for businesses delegations that are part of a government-led trade mission. A full slate of meetings and engagements with government officials, businesses, and other organizations will lay the groundwork for future opportunities.
The trade mission is aligned with a major annual event in Beijing organized by the Canada China Business Council and is providing national and regional tourism industry representatives with an exceptional platform to advance Canadian and NWT tourism interests.
Four business members of NWT Tourism are jointly invested in this mission. They will take part in presentations and workshops to increase their understanding of Chinese tourism and commerce. Business-to-business “Match-Making Sessions” will also be held to advance relationships with major players in the Chinese travel trade market.
For the NWT delegation, the goal is to build partnerships that will better position the NWT to penetrate China’s large, high-potential tourism market.
By the Numbers
- China is the world’s largest outbound tourism market with 142.7m trips in 2017
- Canada welcomed 682,000 Chinese tourists last year.
- Preliminary estimates for the first quarter of 2018 (January-March) show 131,000 Chinese tourists visited Canada, representing 25.6% growth over the same period in 2017.
- Between 2013-14 and 2016-17, tourists visiting the NWT from China grew from 1,800 people to 6,200, with an annual growth rate of 55% during this period.
- Chinese visitors spend on average almost $2,400 per trip to Canada,
- Chinese tourists spent an estimated $1.488 billion in Canada in 2016.
- The NWT’s tourism industry reached records of $201.40 million and 93,910 visitors in 2016-2017.
Capturing opportunities for global promotion of NWT products and industries is part of the GNWT’s mandate, and central to building a broad, diverse economy territorial economy.
