Canada's tourism industry is ramping up to try to cash in on a potential bonanza in Chinese overseas travel.

The Chinese government has estimated that by 2015 there will be 100 million outbound travellers a year from China.

Emerald Lake in B.C.'s Yoho National Park: A recent survey suggests the leading draw for Chinese tourists to Canada is natural beauty. (Bill Graveland/Canadian Press)

And with a recent study ranking Canada as the No. 3 favoured destination among Chinese tourists, the industry is hoping for a significant payoff.

"We are at the starting point," Willie Kwong, research manager for a Vancouver-based non-profit called SUCCESS, told CBC News. "And there is no direction we can go but upwards."

SUCCESS, which offers services ranging from immigrant support to trade promotion between Canada and Asia, was one of three organizations that conducted the study. The others were marketing firm EMR International and the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, a think-tank.

The report, whose results were released July 12, includes a survey done in May of 1,080 people in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. It suggests Canada lies behind only Australia and Singapore as a favoured destination for Chinese tourists.

Natural beauty a draw

The survey found natural beauty was Canada's leading draw among respondents, followed by food and wine and skiing.

That suggests a potentially lucrative opportunity.

The China Tourism Academy has estimated Chinese nationals will spend $48 billion US on travel in 2010, up 14 per cent from 2009.

Almost 90 per cent of that will be on tourism.

Canada's chances of getting a share of the boon have been helped by getting "approved destination" status in December, a move made official with a signing ceremony on June 24 during President Hu Jintao's visit to Canada.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, right, walks with Chinese President Hu Jintao through the Hall of Honour on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 24, the day the two signed an agreement giving Canada 'approved destination' status. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

The status makes it easier for Chinese travellers to obtain tourist visas and opens the door for Canada to market itself in China.

But to capitalize on that, Kwong said, the Canadian tourism industry and the government need to do more marketing and more research on what Chinese tourists want.

"We really need to get our hands dirty, roll up our sleeves and get into the market and really understand the tourists' needs," he said.

That is beginning to happen.

The first Chinese tour under the "approved destination" program, of Western Canada, is due to arrive in Vancouver in mid-August.

The federal government's Canadian Tourism Commission, which recently got an extra budget injection of $8 million, brought 50 Chinese tour operators to Canada in June and will run a trade mission to bring together Canadian operators and Chinese operators in Beijing in October.

Various provincial, municipal and private-sector tourism operators are making plans for marketing initiatives in China, according to David Goldstein, CEO of the Tourism Industry Association.

"China expects to be the largest outbound tourism market globally by 2015," Goldstein said. "That's massive."

Canada playing catch-up

Kwong said Canadians "have a lot of catching up to do."

Australia has aggressively marketed itself in China since getting approved destination status in 1999.

According to Australia's Bureau of Statistics, 32,500 Chinese tourists visited there in April, up more than five-fold from 11 years earlier.

Chinese visitors to Canada in the same month numbered 11,160.

Any share of the increase in Chinese tourism has significant potential benefit for Canada, according to Goldstein.

In an industry that provides slightly fewer than 700,000 direct jobs in Canada, he said, "if we're getting a five or 10 per cent bump out of that, it's going to have huge impact on the Canadian economy."