Before venturing into the cold to explore Yellowknife, this group of Hong Kong tourists takes a moment for a photo at the airport with Angela Law, Yellowknife Tours Ltd. operator (fourth from right, front) on the eve of Chinese New Year. The photo also includes Maria Chan, Heather Soo, Amy Liu, Francis Liu, Patrick Liu, Cathy Liu, Lucy Liu, Ule Mak, Frankie Lee, Carol Chan, YC Wong, Armando Jorge, Jackie Ng, Carol Wong and Raymond Cheung. - Erin Steele/NNSL photo

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The snake made way for the horse on Friday, New Year's Day according to Shengxiao, or the Chinese Zodiac, and dozens of tourists from Hong Kong celebrated at Trout Lake Lodge.

The Chinese New Year, marked by more than two weeks of holidays and festivities in much of eastern Asia, has attracted more than 120 visitors from Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore to the NWT this month, according to their host, Yellowknife Tours Ltd. operator Verda Law.

"These 15 days will be busy, for sure," Law said. "In Asia, they take holidays in February just like Christmas here," she said.

"Chinese New Year is a big, big thing in Asia, in Hong Kong. This year is the year of the horse.

"The horse describes a personality of someone who reaches for a goal and you aim for it and you will go for it. That person always has a vision to aim for, a target and is always motivated. It's a good year."

Yellowknife Tours, NWT Tourism and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment are focused on the goal of increasing tourism from China in 2014.

NWT Tourism launched its first marketing campaign - amounting to $140,000 - in China last year. The organization is currently preparing the coming year's budget, which will be released in March, but according to interim executive director Jackie Frederick, the campaign dedicated to the Chinese market in 2014 will continue to be a focus of funding.

"We've never spent this kind of money (on China) before," she said.

"It's quite aggressive over last year. If we get it approved, we're looking for a good increase going to that market because our first year

in produced results."

Only about 40 tourists from China welcomed the Year of the Snake in Yellowknife last February, barely a third of this year's contingent. Overall, Chinese tourism has increased by 50 per cent annually since Yellowknife Tours was established in 2010, shortly after the Chinese government granted Canada approved tourist destination status for Chinese nationals in December 2009.

Law returned last month from the GNWT trade mission to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, during which she promoted NWT aurora viewing to Chinese tourism booking agencies.

"They have more been focused on the European market for the Northern lights," Law said. "Yellowknife was just recently announced as the Aurora capital of the world and we have the best place for aurora viewing. This is actually one of the big reasons you think about the NWT."

Hong Kong resident Raymond Cheung arrived in Yellowknife last week with his wife and a family friend in hopes of seeing the aurora. His path to Yellowknife began online.

"I typed 'aurora' on the Internet and found Yellowknife," he said.

The couple previously travelled to Finland on an aurora sightseeing tour during which they slept in a hotel with a glass ceiling, he said, but the Northern lights did not appear.

"I have never seen them," he said. "I expect we can see them in Yellowknife."

Amy and Francis Liu have also embarked on past Northern adventures.

"We've been to the North Pole before," Amy said. "We saw reindeer."

Francis smiled from ear to ear as he corrected her.

"We didn't see reindeer. We saw a polar bear," he said, motioning behind them to the large bear mounted atop the luggage carousel.

The Hong Kong tour group visited Red Apple restaurant and the Gallery of the Midnight Sun, among other Yellowknife businesses, and stayed three nights at Enodah Wilderness Tour's Trout Rock Lodge.

- with files from Erin Steele