US expects to receive more Chinese tourists

As the upcoming APEC summit in Beijing grants citizens in the Chinese capital and those in several neighboring cities a week off, many have started planning trips to other regions and countries such as the United States, an increasingly popular destination.

Brand USA, a tourism promotion agency in the US, has projected that China will rise to be the US's largest market for inbound tourists in terms of both the number of visitors and the volume of tourists' consumption.

China is currently the seventh largest provider of international tourists to the US and sixth on the list of inbound tourist spending volume. Data published by the US Department of Commerce shows that 1.8 million Chinese visited the United States in 2013, up by 22.5 percent year on year to reach a historical high. The data also shows that Chinese tourists in the United States spend the most on shopping and food.

Brand USA's president and CEO Christopher Thompson said most Chinese tourists stay in tour groups and choose either California or New York City as their first stop in the United States.

A Brand USA poll showed that 60 percent of Chinese people surveyed would like to add the United States onto their destination list while 59 percent had plans to take a trip to the United States within a year.

Thompson attributed the increasing popularity of the US among Chinese tourists to the greater convenience and the aggressive marketing strategies of tour agencies and airline companies.