China Southern Airlines Guangdong and Vancouver Non Stop Service Launched

China Southern Airlines recently launched non-stop service between Guangdong and Vancouver. The inaugural flight, which touched down at Vancouver from Guangdong on June 15, 2011, is aimed at opening up the profitable tourism market in Canada.

Guangdong is the most populous and richest province in China. Vancouver is the third largest city in Canada, located between Coast Mountains and Pacific Ocean, in coastal province of British Columbia. Vancouver has often been voted as the “Best Cities to live in”. It is one of the most beautiful destinations to visit.

The leading Chinese carrier will be operating three flights weekly between Vancouver and Guangzhou at present.

The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) in a statement said that it hoped that Guangzhou-Vancouver flight service is likely to ferry over 44,000 Chinese tourists to Canada each year. According to a top official of the Commission, the move is significantly going to boost Canada’s economy as well as create jobs.

Greg Klassen, Senior Vice-President – Marketing Strategy & Communications, said that with the Approved Destination Status granted last month, Canada has decided to seize the opportunity and promote tourism to Chinese tourists in a big way. He, however, said that this is only possible with the help of leading carriers like China Southern Airlines, which can aggressively open up the new markets and provide customers.

The CTC is currently actively marketing Canada in Shanghai and Beijing. In order to promote Canada extensively in Guangzhou, a partnership has been formed after the coming together of Canad’a tourism marketers, which includes the CTC, Vancouver Airport Authority, Tourism Vancouver and the Government of British Columbia.

Derek Galpin, CTC’s Managing Director for China, expressed his happiness over the opening of the new Guangzhou-Vancouver route. He said that over the last five years a strong relationship has been built with Chinese tour operators, and a great example of progress is evident with the opening up of the new China Southern Airlines route.