tourism is one of the most important industries in canada and continues to be an important factor in maintaining a strong canadian economy. one of the markets that currently holds the greatest potential for inbound tourism to canada is china. the chinese government developed a bilateral agreement program called "approved destination status" (ads) where chinese citizens can obtain tourist visas more easily to travel for leisure purposes to participating countries. under ads, canada can market its tourism products more actively in china, and chinese travel agencies can likewise market and promote leisure packages for travel in canada. canada is currently still in the process of finalizing the ads agreement.