Tourism PEI working to attract more Chinese tourists

Prince Edward Islandis working on a strategy designed to attract more tourists from China.

"As we know, China is really the world's largest and fastest outgrowing travel market and I would say every country in the world is wanting to welcome Chinese visitors and Canada is absolutely no different,"said Brenda Gallant, director of marketing for Tourism PEI.

The Chinese government eased travel restrictions on its citizens in 2010, allowing more people to leave the country for vacations and to visit family.

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Gallant said the province has been meeting with tour operators in China and is working with the other Atlantic provincesto share planning and resources to do direct marketing in China

"When we look at China, it's quite interesting to see the growth and I know that we are not the only province looking at China at this point," she said.

"We would be remiss if we didn't look at opportunities to bring in some of the Chinese visitors and we really have a product that we know that they will enjoy."

Most tourists visiting P.E.I. come from Canada and the United States. Taiwan, China, Japan and England are the other top countries, according to figures from the province's 2017 tourism indicators.

Gallant said the strategy is still in its infancy and couldn't provide a timeline for its release, however she said"it's moving along quite nicely."

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