Affluent Chinese tourists love New York City

July 5, 2010 - PRLog -- A surge of Chinese tourists is expected to visit New York City this year, prompting hoteliers and tour operators to better cater to the group by offering amenities from tea kettles in rooms to translated welcome packets.
NYC & Company, the city's marketing and tourism organization, expects a 20% increase in visitors from China this year compared with a weak 2009 when the recession cut business travel-the major impetus for Chinese travel to New York. If the estimate holds up, 223,000 tourists from China will come to New York this year, topping the 2008 record by a small margin.
Nationwide, the U.S. Commerce Department predicts a 22% increase in travelers from China in 2010. Through February 2010, 141,071 tourists from China and Hong Kong have visited the U.S., ranking China ninth among arrivals, and an 86% increase over last year. Tourism experts say New York is usually on the agenda for Chinese visitors to the U.S.
Some city hotels have experience in catering to the Chinese. The Mandarin Oriental has long-offered a traditional breakfast of rice congee, soy-poached chicken, steamed pork bun and a boiled egg. But now it is developing Chinese language cards and letters to welcome guests and explain local attractions.

An in-house translator and complimentary tea kettles and tea in-room for Chinese guests is also in the works. The New York Marriott Marquis also serves a traditional Chinese breakfast in its Encore Restaurant and has Mandarin speakers on staff.
At the Waldorf Astoria, Stanley Wong, a Cantonese-speaking senior concierge, says more Chinese tourists will be a boost for retail across the region. His affluent clients like shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman and often request a trip to the Woodbury Common outlet in Central Valley, N.Y.
"Sometimes they don't speak any English but they know Woodbury Common," he said. (A spokeswoman for the Premium Outlets Division of Simon Property Group said that Woodbury Common is the largest destination for Chinese visitors of its 42 shopping centers in the U.S.)

On a recent afternoon in Times Square, tourists from China took photos in front of Broadway banners. Yumin He, a 56-year-old teacher from Beijing, made his first trip to the U.S. this month for a wedding. He and his wife traveled across the country with a daughter who lives in San Diego and had been in New York for a week.
"People were really optimistic, the food is good, the environment is great and the air quality is great," Mr. He said. The family also visited Philadelphia, Boston and Niagara Falls. "We weren't able to see everything in depth. We just skimmed the surface with sightseeing because everything with the tour group was really rushed," he said.
Though the majority of travel from China to New York continues to be business-related, the leisure sector is growing, largely because of an agreement signed two years ago that made it possible for groups to travel from China to the U.S. China's growing middle class also accounts for an increase in leisure travel.
According to the Shanghai Travelers' Club,  China's leading luxury travel club for VIP 's and Government officials, 65% of the Club's wealthy members would consider to plan a luxury shopping trip to NYC in 2010. A very good news for luxury retail industry.

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China Elite Focus is the leading marketing agency in China targeting affluent Chinese outbound tourists. www.chinaelitefocus.com