November 4,2025
RED FM News Desk
Travel agents in British Columbia are welcoming Beijing’s decision to restart group travel to Canada, hopeful for the return of big-spending Chinese tourists who once played a major role in the province’s tourism industry before the pandemic.
Glynnis Chan, president of Vancouver-based Happy Times Travel and Tour Ltd., has been organizing group tours for Chinese visitors for over four decades. She expects a major economic boost following China’s decision on Monday to resume group tours that were suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Chan said her clients typically spent about six weeks touring Canada and averaged more than $1,300 in daily expenses, visiting attractions such as Stanley Park in Vancouver, the Rocky Mountains, and Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
Another travel agent, Mabel Wu, owner of Next Vacation Ltd. in Richmond, B.C., recalled that during the “glory days” of Chinese tourism before the pandemic, tour groups would dine at restaurants and order premium seafood like king crab and live lobster.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand called the resumption of Chinese group travel to Canada “an important step in the recalibrated bilateral relationship.”
The move followed Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which Anand described as a “turning point” in relations between the two countries.
According to Destination BC, Chinese travel to Canada as of August remains 45 per cent lower than in 2019, but arrivals have already risen by 24 per cent compared to last year.
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