The first group of 381 Chinese ADS tourists arrived at Vancouver International Airport on Aug. 18.

Last year, about 160,000 Chinese tourists arrived in Canada independently. Now with the ADS agreement in place, the Conference Board of Canada, a research think tank, forecasts that the number could jump by at least 50 percent within a few years.

Moore said the government thought the forecast "could be conservative."

"What we've seen in other countries, if they do things right, after signing ADS they can see a dramatic increase in the number of visitors. We have to remember that ADS is an important milestone. It expands our ability to market, it expands the number of people who would be able to come to visit Canada and in doing so it provides us wonderful opportunities. So we expect to see a significant increase," he said.

Moore said Canada was spending 5 million Canadian dollars (US$4.95 million) on marketing campaigns in China this year, up from 1.3 million Canadian dollars last year.

While in China, the delegation, which includes tourism ministers from British Columbia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland/Labrador, is participating in Showcase Canada-Asia 2010, a Canadian Tourism Commission event, and the Shanghai Expo.

Regarding the issue of visa obtaining, one of the main obstacles for Chinese tourists wanting to visit Canada, Moore said that with the ADS agreement in place, approved tour operators could now handle group applications so that individual visitors do not have to go through the process any more.

"It wouldn't make sense for us to market Canada in China, to do tourism missions to China and then have too many barriers to people taking that step. That's why we are working on making sure that the visa is as accessible as possible," said Moore.

Another thing Canada wants to avoid is cheap package tours. Previous experiences, in some countries, have seen Chinese tourists housed in sub-standard accommodation and pushed into purchases at businesses collaborating with corrupt tour operators.

To date, the Tourism Association of Canada has approved more than 20 tourism operators to handle ADS travel.

"One of the things we can't allow to happen here in Canada is that the tourism experience be deluded, so that the Chinese tourist, who comes with expectations, doesn't have a good time and doesn't tell their friends to go to Canada," Moore said.

"That's why we are working as government, but we are also working with the industry, the Tourism Industry Association of Canada. Not only are they working to get successful tourism companies registered under ADS, they are also doing the follow-up. So they are making sure that the tourist has a quality experience and the standard is at the level that should be expected."

(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2010)