The U.S. Department of Commerce has projected an increase in the number of visits by Chinese tourists in 2019, surpassing the number of tourists from other countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil and Japan.
According to the department, visitors from China are expected to grow by 172 percent or about 3.1 million visitors by 2019.
The number of Chinese tourists to the U.S. has steadily increased each year. Statistics from the National Travel and Tourism Office showed that at least 2.2 million Chinese tourists visited the country in 2014, a 24-percent increase compared to 2013. Out of this number, 740,000 visited New York alone, a number five times than 2009's.
U.S. travel authorities further said that China had surpassed France and move up to the fourth place in terms of foreign tourists to New York. The top in the list include Britain, Canada and Brazil.
With this potential growth in tourism, many travel agencies in the U.S. have started to gather information and make a general profile of the Chinese tourist. Allianz Global Assistance, an international travel agency, has developed a profile of the Chinese tourist, based on exchange of information gathered from online travel forums in China.
According to their profile, Chinese tourists are portrayed as curious and prepared travelers. They are also family-oriented as children often travel with adults or their families. They are well-prepared and well-equipped when they travel to other countries. They are also curious about things and places and do not hesitate to ask, give their opinion or advice about things they see.