AsiaNet 64581
 
SHANGHAI, China, May 27, 2016 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/--
 
It is learnt on May 23 that Canada has just received a large tour group of over 4,000 Chinese business tourists. It is expected that this group of tourists will bring a purchasing power of at least 4 million Canadian dollars. According to Toronto Tourism, this is the largest single tour group Canada has ever received.
 
According to the data released by the Canadian Tourism Commission, the annual revenue of the Canadian tourism industry in 2015 reached 90 billion Canadian dollars, and tourism directly created over 630,000 job opportunities. In recent years, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Canada has been growing stably, and in 2015 the number is close to 500,000.
 
As the economic and trade ties between China and Canada have become increasingly closer, not only individual tourists prefers to visit Canada, but also more Chinese companies choose to organize meetings and team-building activities there. These large tour groups have strong purchasing capability, are fond of paying with UnionPay cards, and can remarkably promote consumption in destination cities.
 
With more overseas merchants accepting UnionPay cards and more UnionPay exclusive privileges are offered, much more Chinese business tourists carry UnionPay cards abroad, and their average spending amount also grew stably.
  
An increasing number of Canadian merchants take the acceptance of UnionPay cards as a significant means to attract tourists. The four major banks in Canada have all enabled their ATMs to accept UnionPay cards, making UnionPay's local ATM acceptance coverage reach 85%. In addition, UnionPay cards are accepted at over 70,000 merchants; these merchants include duty free shops, department stores, brand chains, jewelry stores most frequented by tourists. At these merchants, cardholders can pay conveniently with UnionPay cards.
  
An experienced local tour guide, Ms. Hou, said that she often recommended the Chinese tourists to pay with UnionPay cards no matter in tourist attractions or at department stores. Because paying with UnionPay cards is not only safer and more convenient than paying cash, but is also without service fees.
 
Since 2014, qualified Chinese tourists are able to get multi-entry visa to Canada. With this visa, tourists can stay in Canada for as long as over half a year, and the passport can be valid for as long as ten (10) years. This measure helps to attract more Chinese tourists to Canada.
 
For more information: http://www.unionpayintl.com/
 
Source: UnionPay International 
 
--BERNAMA