B.C.’s tourism sector saw solid year-over-year visitor growth in August thanks largely to a resurgence in visitors from Asia, according to Destination British Columbia data released today.
Overall visitor counts remain far below where they were pre-pandemic.
There were 692,772 international visitors who entered Canada through B.C. entry points in August, which was 8.4 per cent more than in the same month one year earlier. Unfortunately for the sector, those visits were also 27.9 per cent less than in August 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The same trends evident in August were also there for the first eight months of 2024, compared with the same months in 2023: substantially more Asian visitors, more American and European visitors and far fewer Mexicans.
Mexico was the only country that had far fewer of its nationals visit Canada through B.C. entry points year-over-year in August. That is largely because Canada reinstated visa requirements for most Mexicans starting Feb. 29. B.C. saw 15,180 Mexican citizens enter Canada through B.C. entry points in August, down 31.1 per cent from August 2023.
China topped all nations for having the most growth in visits from its nationals to Canada through B.C.
There were 18,194 Chinese citizens who came to Canada through B.C. in August, up 38.8 per cent from the same month in 2023, though down 61 per cent from August 2019.
BIV recently reported how getting to B.C. from mainland China is harder than it used to be as fewer airlines fly non-stop between Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and airports in mainland China.
Pre-pandemic there were eight such airlines, flying a total of 55 flights per week, with a total of 15,502 seats.
Now, five airlines fly a total of eight flights per week between mainland China and YVR, with a total of 2,491 seats, including: Air Canada, Air China, Hainan Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, and Sichuan Airlines, according to the Vancouver Airport Authority.
China Eastern, China Southern and Beijing Capital Airlines no longer fly into Vancouver.
Chinese visitors are good for tourism because, pre-pandemic, Chinese visitors to the province spent more lavishly than domestic tourists, Americans or guests from any other country, according to Destination British Columbia. China was also B.C.’s third-largest source of tourists in 2019, after the U.S. and the U.K.
In August, Chinese visitors were the fourth most numerous, following American overnight visitors (473,055), Brits (30,366) and Aussies (24,196).
Other Asian countries that have nationals visiting Canada through B.C. entry points substantially more year-over-year in August included Japan (25.7 per cent more, to 13,402), South Korea (17.6 per cent more, to 8,503) and India (15.4 per cent more, to 12,892).
Part of the reason for the increased traffic between B.C. and South Korea is that Korean Airlines upped its Vancouver International Airport (YVR)-to-Incheon route frequency to 10 flights per week, up from seven, starting in July 2024.
Some other airline route launches and extensions out of YVR earlier this year includes:
- Zip Airlines launching non-stop flights to Tokyo Narita in March;
- Air Canada launching non-stop flights to Singapore in March; and
- Air Canada increasing its number of non-stop Vancouver-Hong Kong flights to 10 weekly.
Air Canada is also planning to fly an extended season of flights between YVR and Bangkok into spring 2025.
The jump in Indian visitors came despite friction between the two countries’ national governments, which started late last year and ramped up on Oct. 14, when Canada announced that it was expelling six Indian diplomats and consular officials because they were involved in a targeted campaign against Canadians. India retaliated by expelling six Canadian diplomats.
Air India flies the only non-stop flights between India and Vancouver: to Delhi, on planes configured to seat 342 passengers.
The entire Asia-Pacific region sent 113,019 nationals to Canada through B.C. in August, which was 16.4 per cent more than the same month a year earlier. That percentage would have been much higher, however, if it did not include Australia, where there was a comparatively small 3.8-per-cent increase in visits, to 24,196.
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