Tourism Vancouver signed a five-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Vancouver's sister city of Guangzhou, China, the tourism organization announced November 7.
The agreement will see Tourism Vancouver sharing research, best practices and support to encourage tourism between Vancouver and Guangzhou.
"Entering into a memorandum of understanding with Tourism Guangzhou will deepen our insights and understanding into the characteristics and motivations of Chinese travelling internationally," said Jonas Melin, first deputy chair of the board of directors for Tourism Vancouver.
"In turn, we look forward to assisting our colleagues at Tourism Guangzhou with access to the North American market through Vancouver – which has more direct flights to China than any other city in the Americas."
The agreement seeks to strengthen the growing market of tourism from China. By 2014, China is expected to be Vancouver's second-largest group of international tourists, second only to the United States.
Vancouver's tourism industry is worth an estimated $6.1 billion, supporting 69,000 jobs.
Mayor Gregor Robertson said, "Vancouver has a long and distinguished sister city relationship with Guangzhou, and we're pleased to be strengthening those ties even more.
"This tourism agreement is another important step in opening up business opportunities between our two cities, which will benefit trade, investment and tourism."
