CANADA TOURISM VANCOUVER APPOINTED CHINESE SINGER SONGWRITER WANTING QU NEW VANCOUVER TOURISM AMBASSADOR TO INCREASE TOURIST FROM PRESENT 150000 IN 2012 VANCOUVER - Tourism Vancouver, eager to build on the astronomical growth in Chinese vacationers to Canada, has harnessed the power of one of China’s newest and hottest singer-songwriters — Vancouver’s Wanting Qu — to serve as its first tourism ambassador. Wanting’s signing this week comes as Vancouver and B.C. experience double-digit growth from Chinese tourism. China’s dominating business influence around the world is well known. But as its middle class rises, it is also being seen as a major source of new international tourists. Stephen Pearce, Tourism Vancouver’s vice-president of leisure travel and digital marketing, said China is third behind the United States and the United Kingdom in visitor overnight stays to Vancouver. Last year, Chinese tourists made more than 150,000 overnight visits to the city, compared to 175,000 from the UK and 1.8 million from the U.S. But within a year or two, China will overtake the U.K., he said, while tourism from the U.S. remains stagnant. “We’ve been looking at flat growth out of the U.S. for the past several years, and double-digit growth out of China over the same period. Going into the future we see that continuing to be the trend,” Pearce said. “What we are seeing is more liberalized policies in terms of Chinese people being able to travel. We are seeing more affluent Chinese as a sector of the economy in terms of where they want to travel. I think Canada is a fresh destination and they are discovering us, and I think Vancouver has got brand awareness.” Pearce also believes Vancouver’s successful 2010 Winter Olympics helped. “I think the Olympics put us on the radar screen with China, and I think this relationship with Wanting Qu will do that again,” he said. Wanting, who moved to Vancouver when she was 16, will help create six videos marrying some of her award-winning music with images of Vancouver, Whistler and B.C. In the fall, Tourism Vancouver will also bring over four lucky fans from China on an all-expenses paid Wanting-escorted trip to Vancouver and Whistler.She’s doing this for the love of the destination. I know that is sounding like something of a cliché, but she is doing something we couldn’t possibly envision we could do with a person of her calibre,” Pearce said. “We think that the Vancouver people will see through her eyes, through the videos we expect to develop with her, featuring her music and featuring Vancouver and area, will inspire people to come here.” Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson also welcomed Tourism Vancouver’s efforts to broaden the city’s tourism reach to Asia. “Wanting is representative of the incredibly talented overseas Chinese who are part of Vancouver,” Robertson said. “We are proud to be a growing global hub for creative talent and I extend my thanks to Wanting for sharing her enthusiasm for Vancouver in China.”
Posted on: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 05:32:27 +0000
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