Chinese tourists head to North America

Eager to spend their growing disposable income, travelers from mainland China’s wealthy and rising middle classes are traversing the globe in search of iconic destinations they can cross off their bucket lists.

That wanderlust has increasingly brought them to the USA as travel restrictions on them eased. Despite occasional economic and political dust-ups between the two nations’ governments, a record number of Chinese visitors came to the U.S. in 2011. And steps announced last month by President Obama to speed up visas for them should result in even more Chinese arrivals, further unlocking a huge source of income that the U.S. travel industry and retail business sector have long coveted.

So huge is the Chinese travel market potential that major U.S. travel suppliers — including hotels and airlines, as well as major cities and even shopping malls — are sending sales representatives to China. And hotels in this country are now serving rice porridge for breakfast and seeking Mandarin Chinese speakers to handle the phones and checkin desks.

PRICEY RITZ PACKAGE IN TORONTO

The Ritz-carlton Toronto, the swanky 53-storey hotel/condo, is marking its one-year anniversary with what it calls “luxury travel experiences.”

Included is a food experience that starts at $3,000 per couple and involves spending a day with chef Tom Brodi, visiting farms and markets to select ingredients for him to whip up at dinner in the hotel’s Toca restaurant.

Also on tap: spa sessions starting at $950 per person. These include, among other things, yoga, a facial, manicure and pedicure, plus a Champagne and caviar lunch.

WINNIPEG SPA

On Feb. 11 the historic Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg plans to open the 1,860-square-metre Yoga Public, billed as the largest yoga facility in Canada. There’s a package (from $159 per person), which includes dinner and an overnight stay Saturday, two classes at Yoga Public, a self-administered Turkish-style hamam treatment at the Fort Garry’s Ten Spa, and Sunday brunch.