New Delhi, Nov 26: Canada opens offices of its tourism commission in New Delhi and Mumbai as part of its plan to woo Indian tourists in a big way to the ''all season destination.'' India becomes the sixteenth country to have the office of the Canadian Tourism Commission.
Judd Buchanan, special advisor on tourism to Canadian Prime Minister, told newsmen here yesterday that only 65,000 Indian tourists now visited Canada every year. The plan was to increase it to 650,000 in ten years by attracting the growing middle class which had started holidaying abroad.
Out of the 18.5 million foreign tourists to Canada, Americans accounted for 15 million, followed by Japanese (450,000), Britons (500,000) and Germans and French (500,000 each). Tourism generates 50 to 55 billion dollars in Canada.
Buchanan said the strategy of the Canadian Tourism Commission was to encourage the VFR segment as tourists as well as others heading to the United States to include Canada in their itinerary.
He said Canada had identified India and China as the country with a 'huge potential' in the next two to three decades. The common law and jurisprudence, parliamentary system and common language (English) would help India and Canada to do better in tourism, both ways.
Buchanan said Canada accorded special importance to India and this was the reason why the prime minister and one third of the senior Canadian cabinet ministers had visited this country in October-November this year.
He said the first hotel of Canadian hotel chain 'Four Seasons' would start functioning at Mumbai in 2005.
Bureau Report