Prime Minister Stephen Harper, on his first official visit to China, stated today that Canada has been granted Approved Destination Status (ADS) by China. The Canadian Chamber has been instrumental in advocating that the federal government negotiate to achieve this status.

We have called on the Government to work to enhance our economic relations with China. In 2007, we recommended that the Government move quickly to achieve Approved Destination Status with China, a status already granted to more than 134 countries, including the US, EU and Australia.

This will allow Canada to maintain its competitive edge in attracting the rapidly growing number of Chinese overseas tourists. Approved Destination Status will make it easier for Chinese tourists to visit Canada. It will also allow the Canadian tourism industry to actively market Canadian travel opportunities in China and will permit Chinese travel agents to advertise and promote leisure travel packages to Canada.

China is quickly becoming a giant source of tourists, with over 100 million Chinese citizens expected to travel abroad as tourists by 2020, according to the World Tourism Organization. In 2008, some 160 thousand Chinese travellers came to Canada. While growing, Approved Destination Status will allow for these figures to increase considerably. It will also allow our tourism industry, most of which is made up of small- and medium-sized enterprises, to capture growing Chinese interest in travel to North America.