Destination Osoyoos in partnership with the Town, and Osoyoos Indian Band pursued and were successful in securing a new $2 million Visitor Info Centre for Osoyoos. The new centre will be one of three provincial Gateway Centres in the amount of $2 million. Premier Gordon Campbell announced the new Provincial Gateway Centre in front of 1,000 delegates at the Annual Tourism BC Conference in February. Along with the Gateway Centre announcement, was the announcement of thirteen new provincial signs located at various entrances throughout the province saying “Welcome to British Columbia ~ The Best Place on Earth”. We are very fortunate to have one located on Hwy 97 south at the border crossing.

For a full, detailed list of other project highlights from 2004-2005,
click here.

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Osoyoos Visitor Centre / Osoyoos Greyhound
New Hours of Operation:

Mon, Tue, Wed: 9 am - 4:30 pm
Thur, Fri - 8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Sat - 10 am - 4 pm
Sun, Holidays - closed
effective Mon Nov 21st

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Community Watch

Understanding the Red Giant - How to Prepare for the Coming Boom in Chinese Tourism

article by www.go2hr.ca
Posted on Oct 27, 2005

According to the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, travel from China has grown almost 1.5% every year since 2000. Once approved destination status is fully negotiated between the two governments, the effect on BC business will be significant.

Last January, China announced that it would consider giving Canada approved destination status -- meaning our doors would officially open to Chinese tourists and visitors once details between the two governments were negotiated. As of September 2005, this hasn’t happened yet. But there’s no arguing that when it does, the effect on BC businesses will be significant.

On September 29th, the Council of Tourism Associations of British Columbia ran a workshop about how businesses in the tourism industry can prepare themselves for the coming boom in Chinese tourism.

Language
Tong Chow, a facilitator on cross-cultural relations for the Council of Tourism Associations of BC, and an accredited English/Chinese translator to the Secretary of State of Canada, opened the session with a quick Mandarin language lesson. "A few words can make a big difference and put a smile on the faces of Chinese tourists," she said. Should companies go as far as hiring Mandarin-speaking staff? "We don't know yet, but we should probably have a pool of people in that field ready for us to use, just in case."

Opportunity
When Canada receives approved destination status, British Columbia will see potentially huge numbers of Chinese tourists. More people live in Beijing and Shanghai alone, than in all of Canada. And Chinese cities of this size probably contain 40,000 to 50,000 multimillionaires. Tong Chow separated the Chinese population into four basic demographics:

Middle Age: mid 30’s – mid 50’s
This group makes up a large portion of potential visitors to Canada and British Columbia. The new Chinese middle class is large, well educated and professional. The income of a typical white-collar middle-age person in Shanghai or Beijing is about $80,000 to $150,000 per year. Many Chinese in this category have suffered economically in the past and have a new surge of energy to make life better, experience new things and travel to places like British Columbia.

Younger Age: mid 20’s – mid 30’s
This younger age group doesn't have as much wealth. They have younger tastes and preferences, and are more carefree and less worried about their future. We probably won’t see the same numbers of travelers in this category as we will in the middle age category.

Student Group: teens – mid 20’s
Typical Chinese middle class parents have a zealous desire to get their children well educated. There could be possibilities for creating tourism opportunities to help young people become more "open minded."

Senior group: 60’s and above
In the past, this demographic has never expected to have time for leisure or travel. They worked their whole lives, and then at the age of 65, became babysitters for their grandchildren and younger family members. But with retirement income and their children's support, they could begin coming to Canada in larger numbers.

Engaging Chinese Tourists
Our goal should be to marry Chinese tourists with what we have. We should engage Chinese visitors, develop a relationship, and then commit to making their travel experience as satisfying as possible. According to Tong, engaging Chinese tourists involves tourism organizations working together to develop coordinated and synchronized services and options. "Canadians are independent-minded when they travel.” Tong described how she often sees Canadians traveling individually or in groups of two. Many Chinese travelers prefer touring in large groups of twenty or more. She talked about how Chinese visitors to Canada might know some of the main attractions, like Butchart Gardens. “But they might not know how to get there and what else they could see close by," she added.

The best way to engage tourists is to try to anticipate answers to the following questions:

• What do they like to do?
• Where do they want to go?
• What accommodations, food and transportation do they want?
• What manner should we adopt?

The seminar attendees then worked together in groups to design customized travel itineraries. Ideas included showing Chinese tourists things they couldn’t normally see in their country (unique wildlife or Canadian experiences), showing things of historical significance (Gold Rush, history of our aboriginal peoples, etc.), and having themed events like business or educational tours. "Chinese tourists don’t know what they want. When you give them lots of choices, they will want to come," said Tong.

Problem-solving
The second part of the seminar focused on risk management and problem solving. "There are many ways of running into misunderstandings. It's our number one headache in the travel industry," said Tong.

Political Issues
Canada recognizes China as an official state and does not have a relationship with Taiwan. But China is so geographically large, and ethically and politically diverse, that Canadian tour operators should simply welcome everyone as tourists. It's best not to distinguish between cultures and ideologies. For example, companies would do well to have two Chinese translations of print materials. One in "simplified language" (for mainland Chinese) and one in "traditional language" (for Taiwanese).

Cultural Differences
Every country has a different way of doing things. For example, one Chinese custom is to refuse something you offer them -- because accepting gifts is considered poor taste. You should continue to offer and insist that they accept. Another example is insurance. Chinese have a different mentality regarding insurance. To them, it’s common sense not to buy insurance, for many Chinese travelers don’t consider the possibility that anything bad could happen during their visit. Canadians can and should combat their reluctance by making insurance mandatory and incorporating insurance fees right into their prices.

Risk Management
Attendees broke off into different groups and discussed customer relationship management strategies. Businesses should have plans in place to address things like plane delays, loss of travel documents, car accidents, mishaps, and cultural clashes and misunderstandings. Businesses should try to determine what their Chinese customers like, their knowledge of the various activities, the most common misunderstandings, and what to do if misconceptions take place. "We should never try to force Chinese tourists to adapt to our way," said Tong. "They’ve lived their whole lives away from us. We can adapt for the three days or three weeks they’re visiting. We're not here to educate them. We’re here to provide them with a good time.

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Visitor Info

estimated visitors during October
to Visitor Information Centre:
2,600, resulting in a 10.1% increase over 2004.
to www.destinationosoyoos.com:
2,313 (7,199 hits)
e-mail: tourism@osoyoos.ca