Hawaii has beaches and its famed "aloha spirit" as its siren call. Las Vegas offers gambling and its entertainment-oriented attractions. San Francisco can boast high-end shopping and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Beset by one of the worst recessions in decades, the U.S. destinations are spending significant sums on marketing campaigns in China's most populous regions, and are urging U.S. embassy officials and Chinese airlines to ease the logistical burdens of flying to the United States.
The payoff could be substantial - particularly in Hawaii, the closest U.S. destination to China but which is, at least for now, harder for the Chinese to reach by air.
"It could be huge" for Hawaii, said Ted Sturdivant, who has long published a Hawaii travel guide for Chinese, Japanese and other foreign tourists.
Attracting more Chinese tourists "will bring back a lot of jobs" to Hawaii, Gov. Linda Lingle said recently, after returning from a tourism and economic mission to China.
About a half-million Chinese traveled to all U.S. destinations last year, and that number is expected to grow by double digits in each of the next four years mainly because of China's growing economy and new wealth, according to the U.S. Travel Association. Tourism officials note that the Chinese middle and upper classes each rivals the size of the entire U.S. population, so luring just a fraction would produce huge numbers.
"Everybody looks at China and sees a country with 1.3 billion people and a growing economy, and they say, 'Oh my God, it's the greatest travel market that ever was,'" said Frank Haas, an instructor at the School of Travel Industry Management at the University of Hawaii.
Hawaii's tourism market has generally been propped up by two regions - the U.S. West Coast and Japan. Both market segments declined this year, as did the number of Chinese visitors - this despite a late 2007 agreement that China and U.S. signed lifting some travel barriers. - 33387
Beset by one of the worst recessions in decades, the U.S. destinations are spending significant sums on marketing campaigns in China's most populous regions, and are urging U.S. embassy officials and Chinese airlines to ease the logistical burdens of flying to the United States.
The payoff could be substantial - particularly in Hawaii, the closest U.S. destination to China but which is, at least for now, harder for the Chinese to reach by air.
"It could be huge" for Hawaii, said Ted Sturdivant, who has long published a Hawaii travel guide for Chinese, Japanese and other foreign tourists.
Attracting more Chinese tourists "will bring back a lot of jobs" to Hawaii, Gov. Linda Lingle said recently, after returning from a tourism and economic mission to China.
About a half-million Chinese traveled to all U.S. destinations last year, and that number is expected to grow by double digits in each of the next four years mainly because of China's growing economy and new wealth, according to the U.S. Travel Association. Tourism officials note that the Chinese middle and upper classes each rivals the size of the entire U.S. population, so luring just a fraction would produce huge numbers.
"Everybody looks at China and sees a country with 1.3 billion people and a growing economy, and they say, 'Oh my God, it's the greatest travel market that ever was,'" said Frank Haas, an instructor at the School of Travel Industry Management at the University of Hawaii.
Hawaii's tourism market has generally been propped up by two regions - the U.S. West Coast and Japan. Both market segments declined this year, as did the number of Chinese visitors - this despite a late 2007 agreement that China and U.S. signed lifting some travel barriers. - 33387
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