(Yicai) Nov. 4 -- The interest of Chinese citizens in trips to Canada spiked right after China announced it would resume group tour services to the North American country.

Searches for flights from China to Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto jumped 223 percent, 137 percent, and 61 percent, respectively, in the half an hour following the announcement, according to data from Chinese online travel platform Qunar.

After comprehensive consideration of the outbound travel demands of Chinese citizens, China has decided to resume group tour services for Chinese citizens traveling to Canada through travel agencies, Mao Ning, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a press conference yesterday.

This is another positive development for the tourism industry, said Zhou Weihong, deputy general manager of Spring Tour. It will complete the tourism destination matrix for North America and provide Shanghai residents and visitors with more diverse outbound tourism options, meeting the needs for nature exploration and cultural experiences among different customer segments, he noted.

Travel companies can now develop more products covering multiple destinations across North America and potentially promote cross-sector travel scenarios, such as business trips and trade exchanges, Zhou added.

Utour is already preparing its 2026 Canada product line, according to a manager at the Chinese travel agency. Utour will launch products with different activities based on seasons to include tulip farm tours in spring, maple leaf viewings in autumn, and ice hockey and skiing events and northern lights excursions in winter.

Spring Tour will verify the details for approved destination status visas to ensure a smooth visa application process, integrate supply chain resources to provide solid guarantees, and leverage its resources in the United States and other countries, prioritize direct flights, and form partnerships with Canadian group tour operators to make travel more convenient for Chinese tourists, Zhou said.

ADS visas are a special type of visa for Chinese tourists who travel as part of an approved group tour to specific countries.

Moreover, Spring Tour will prioritize partners that can provide Chinese-language services and support small groups and customized tours, verify and validate hotels and scenic areas, and launch outbound tourism products for Canada as soon as possible, Zhou added.

Editor: Futura Costaglione