While the registration process for the Brand USA mega FAM 2015 closed last week, registration is still open for UK travel agents seeking to be one of 50 agents who will be spread out among 11 fam tour itineraries across Canada Sept. 9-18, 2015. Organized by the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC), the fam tour itineraries will take those who secure a spot among the chosen 50 to British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland & Labrador or the Yukon. Registration closes May 31, 2015. CTC’s airline partner in the fam tour is Air Canada.
Godfrey Gao, Taiwanese-born Canadian model and film and television actor, and also an ambassador for the CTC, pitches Canada in a new film short directed at Chinese travelers. The hope is that Gao—he is a widely known household name and image in Asia and his father is from Shanghai—will stimulate interest in Canada among the millions of Chinese who regularly go online to research travel information. More than 22 million people have viewed last year’s film on major Chinese streaming websites, such as Youku, Pptv, Sohu and LeTV, according to the CTC.
The U.S. might stand to benefit from the film’s impact, should Chinese visitors make Vancouver, which is Gao’s hometown, their point of entry, as Vancouver is also the point of entry for nearly 10 percent of the Chinese travelers who visit the U.S. following their arrival at Vancouver International Airport, which is just 28 miles from Blaine, Washington. Blaine borders Canada and is an international point of entry into the U.S.
