US tourism feels trade war pinch

Chinese also tend to "spend big", Heywood said, with such visitors forking out $3,000 per person per trip, which translates to more than $3 billion in total spending.

"We don't want to take the trade war and have that escalate to start to include restrictions on travel from China, because it's a market that is so lucrative for the US, and certainly for New York City," he said.

Citing remarks by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio at the June 4 New York Police Department Medal Day news conference, Heywood said, "New York City is the safest big city in America."

He said many of the hotels, museums and other attractions in the city are courting the Chinese market. New York has also increased its social media presence in China by setting up WeChat and Weibo accounts.

NYC & Company will continue with its sales and marketing efforts in the Chinese market, Heywood said, adding that he is optimistic about the long-term potential for Chinese visitors.

"New York City is 'China-ready', and we warmly welcome Chinese visitors. We hope that they will overlook some of the hurdles and continue to plan their travel to New York, because we remain open for business."

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, a top Los Angeles tourism official expressed similar optimism about prospects for US-China tourism by emphasizing the importance of "people-to-people exchanges", an expression he said he borrowed from President Xi Jinping.

"What makes people-to-people relationships possible is tourism. We are not transactional in our thinking, or shortsighted. We believe that the best, smart thing to do is to look very long-term," said Ernest Wooden Jr., president and CEO of the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board.

"These trade tensions and what other macroeconomic voices are going to say－they will pass, but interest in traveling to Los Angeles is going to be foremost on the minds of long-haul travelers for many decades to come, and that's what we are looking forward to," Wooden said.

While the numbers of Chinese tourists to the US have declined at national level, Los Angeles has actually gained market share in these visitors, owing to the strong relationship the city has built with its travel trade partners in China, Wooden said.

"I think that our tourism is a little different. We have enjoyed a larger percentage of tourists coming to LA, and did not experience the same drop that the US experienced overall," he said. "The national number dropped by 5.7 percent for the past year, but during this time in LA, it's grown by 6.9 percent."

Last year, Los Angeles welcomed 1.2 million visitors from China, a rise of 6.9 percent from the previous year, which saw 1.12 million Chinese tourists arrive in the city.

Los Angeles has four offices in China－in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, and Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province. This year, more than 100 nonstop flights from 14 major Chinese cities will land in and depart from Los Angeles each week, the equivalent of 30,420 seats a week.

Wooden said: "We don't think we've scratched the surface. With 1.3 billion people there (in China), we only had 1.2 million people come ... We know now that the Chinese are just as interested, if not more interested, in traveling the world, as any other international travelers."