Interview: Banff National Park staff prepare to welcome more Chinese visitors: official

As more and more Chinese tourists are visiting Canada's Banff National Park, park employees are preparing for the influx by ensuring that both the visitors' needs and the park regulations are met.

In a recent interview with Xinhua at his office in Banff administration, Dave McDonough, field unit superintendent of the park, said he was aware of more Chinese visitors coming to Banff. Therefore, he was busy working with the tourism industry to meet the needs of the Chinese visitors, and to help provide information about the national park and its regulations to ensure that the visitors have a safe and memorable trip.

Located in the province of Alberta and situated in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, Banff National Park was established in 1885 as Canada's first national park and the world's third. The park and three surrounding national parks were declared a World Heritage Site in 1984 by UNESCO.

McDonough said most Chinese visitors were very respectful of the Canadian national parks and really appreciated the sense of distance, space and spectacular scenery.

However, a few Chinese visitors, ignorant of park regulations, were found feeding animals in the park, which was not only illegal but also dangerous as these animals were really wild and may hurt visitors.

To avoid this, McDonough said Banff park's staff were working with the tourism industry, travel agencies and hotels to provide proper information to the Chinese visitors even before they start their journey to Canada, so they know what to expect and understand the importance of not feeding the animals or polluting the environment.

Moreover, the park's managing team was trying to improve communications with its vistors so that "visitors can understand our environment and people can do the right thing while enjoying the beauty of the park," he said.

According to statistics provided by local travel agencies, there are about 50,000 Chinese visiting Banff and its surrounding parks every year. Now that the 10-year multi-entry visa has been granted by Canada to Chinese visitors, the number of tourists from China is expected to increase steadily.

Another suggestion from McDonough to Chinese visitors is to avoid the peak season of summer with its higher expenses and crowds of visitors and come in autumn or winter instead.

The park official also advised Chinese tourists to visit not only the famous Lake Louise or Sulphur Mountain, but other spectacular places like Lake Emerald or Lake Moraine. These places are less known but equally beautiful, he said.

Spanning 6,641 square kilometers of valleys, mountains, glaciers, forests, meadows and rivers, the park is one of the world's premier destination spots, with more than 3.5 million visitors coming from around the world each year. Endi