Visits to B.C. by Taiwanese travellers increased more than in any other region in the first 11 months of 2016, and that growth is expected to continue to outpace other nations.
Overnight custom entries by people with Taiwanese passports surged 72.9% in November, compared with November 2015, and 41.6% in the first 11 months of 2016, compared with the same time period a year earlier, according to Destination British Columbia data released January 25.
Visits to B.C. from all countries combined also increased but to a lesser degree.
Total overnight visits to B.C. increased 13.1% in November, compared with November 2016, and 12.2% in the first 11 months of the year, compared with the same time period a year earlier.
Canadawide, visits from tourists and others was also up but by slightly less: 12.7% in November and 12.2% in the first 11 months of 2016.
The increase in Taiwanese visitors to Vancouver comes despite a relatively flat number of non-stop flights between Taipei and Vancouver.
Eva Airways added one additional weekly non-stop flight between Vancouver and Taipei in January 2016 and operated five flights weekly throughout the year.
China Airlines, however, reduced its number of weekly flights between Taipei and Vancouver to five, from seven, during the winter months in early 2016.
China Airlines is not making that reduction this year, meaning that there is more capacity on non-stop flights and it will be easier for Taiwanese visitation to Vancouver to increase further in 2017.
On June 8, there will be a lot more capacity on the route when Air Canada launches inaugural non-stop daily flights between Taipei and Vancouver.
Business in Vancouver explored the growth in non-stop flights between Vancouver and Greater China (Taipei, mainland China and Hong Kong) earlier this month.
After Taiwan, the places with the biggest year-over-year increase in visits to Vancouver during the first 11 months of 2016 were:
•Mexico (31.2%);
•Australia (19.7%); and
•mainland China (18.5%).
During the month of November, after Taiwan, the places with the highest increases in visits to B.C. were:
•Australia (59.5%);
•Mexico (34.8%); and
•Switzerland (29.1%).
The largest source of visitors by far was the U.S., with 5,333,713 visitors to B.C. in the first 11 months of 2016. That’s 9.4% higher than the 4,873,413 Americans who entered Canada via B.C. in the same period in 2015.
It is also the same 9.4% growth rate for Americans visiting Canada via B.C. that was present during the first 11 months of 2015, compared with the same time in 2014.
After Americans, the areas with the most visitors to B.C. during the first 11 months of 2016 were:
•China (295,330);
•U.K. (215,154); and
•Australia (197,246).
