Chinese eye US trip for festival

"The middle and high-end tourism routes to the US are our main products in the festival this year," said Zhang Qingzhu, marketing manager of China Comfort Travel Group.

Zhang said the agency launches products like golf and island tours in the US according to consumer demands.

"The number of our customers going to the US during the festival increased by about 15 percent over the last festival," she added.

Zhang Huiling, deputy manager of the American travel department at China CYTS Tours, said her company designed two itineraries for Chinese visitors — a 12-day West Coast trip or a 15-day tour across the US.

Prices range between 24,800 yuan ($4,000) and 31,800 yuan depending on departure times and airline, Zhang Huiling said.

This year's West Coast route includes three national parks: The Grand Canyon in Arizona, and Bryce Canyon and Zion in Utah. Two days' accommodation for Disneyland in Anaheim, California, is another selling point.

Wang Qian, head of American travel at CITS Ltd, said a trip to the US during Spring Festival is cheaper than in the peak July-September season.

Sarah Roach, tourism manager at Bloomingdale's department store in San Francisco, said she expects Chinese travelers will do plenty of shopping during their holiday sojourn. She said Bloomingdale's will have a number of special promotions for Spring Festival, with events throughout the store including traditional lion dancers, musicians, art exhibits, tea and dim sum tasting, and celebrity chefs.

The San Francisco store has more than 40 sales clerks who speak Mandarin and Cantonese, she said.

In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced recently that the city welcomed an estimated 41 million US visitors and 11 million international visitors in 2012. Helping drive the upward trend are tourists from China, whose numbers have increased more than fivefold since 2006, according to NYC & Co, the city's official tourism promotion arm.

Contact the writers at chenjia@chinadailyusa.com and wangwen@chinadaily.com.cn