Minister of State Moore Joins Tourism Sector in Welcoming Chinese-Based Hainan Airlines to Canada

Toronto, Ontario, November 29, 2010 — Today, the Honourable Rob Moore, Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism), welcomed Chinese-based Hainan Airlines to Canada following its first direct flight from Beijing to Toronto.

"This new route is an important step toward maximizing the benefits presented by Canada's Approved Destination Status (ADS) with China, announced by Prime Minister Harper and Chinese President Hu in December 2009," said Minister of State Moore. "China is the world's fastest-growing outbound tourism market and ADS will be a tremendous boost for our visitor economy."

The huge impact of ADS can already be seen this past summer.  Visitor numbers were up almost 50% in July and over 35% in August (compared to 2009) and year-to-date visitor arrivals from China are up over 20%. The Conference Board of Canada predicts that by 2015, ADS will boost Chinese group travel to Canada by 50 percent per year.

This event comes on the heels of Minister of State Moore's tourism mission to China last month. Accompanied by provincial tourism ministers and industry leaders, the Minister of State met with government officials and industry and media representatives in Shanghai and Beijing to promote Canada as a destination of choice for Chinese travellers.

Through Canada's Economic Action Plan, our government invested $20 million in the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) for new marketing and promotion activities in priority international markets such as China. This year we provided an additional $8 million to the CTC to market our great country in China.

Moving forward, Canada will continue to build on its 40-year diplomatic relationship with China. From a tourism perspective, Minister of State Moore is working with domestic tourism operators to take advantage of Canada's Approved Destination Status, as well as increased exposure from earning top country status in FutureBrand's 2010 Country Brand Index and from the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

For further information (media only), please contact:

Catherine Godbout
Office of the Honourable Rob Moore
Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism)
613-943-7023

Media Relations
Industry Canada
613-943-2502