FROM the skiing grounds of the Rockies in the northwest to the tropical Everglades in the southeast, North America offers plenty of attractions to keep people from Hong Kong going back for more.
More than 280,000 Hong Kong residents made Canada and the United States their first ports of call in 1992. Of this total, about 53 per cent went to the United States, with the remainder going to its northern neighbour.
But the latest figures show that the number of visitors to Canada is growing by more than 10 per cent, compared with the 1.5 per cent increase in tourist arrivals in the US.
Not surprisingly there is strong competition on the trans-Pacific route, as airlines battle to boost their share of the expanding market.
North American carriers flying from Hong Kong across the Pacific are Canadian Airlines International, United Airlines and Delta Airlines. Two others, Northwest Airlines and American Airlines, fly out of Tokyo's Narita airport.
Canadian has a daily non-stop service from Hong Kong to its hub in Vancouver, with an excellent connection to Toronto.