According to the NYC Company's statistics, New York City saw an increase of 5.5 percent in Chinese visitation last year and the number will dramatically increase starting this year, he said.
The company has established an office last June in Shanghai, China, to tap the big potential market, he added.
"Considering most Chinese might come to New York City, one of the top destinations in the country, a lot of our tour attractions across the city are preparing for the increase of Chinese visitors," said Heywood, adding that museums begin to provide special Chinese audio tour and hotels to serve Chinese-style breakfast.
"So we believe Chinese will feel very comfortable in NYC as we always say we are the world's second home," he said. "No matter where you are from, the city will be always welcoming and we don't believe that there will be any difference with Chinese visitors."
"The message we want to communicate with Chinese is New York City will welcome them with open arms to discover the beauty and magic here."
For its part, the Homeland Security Department, which handles the visa issue related to international tourists, is working closely with the U.S. embassy in China to make sure the Chinese have information in their own language on what they need to know about coming to the United States, said the department's public affairs officer Kimberly Weissman in an interview with Xinhua.
She noted that they provide information about the US 10-fingerprint process, meaning Chinese travelers have to leave their ten fingerprints and a photograph at the US embassy, and have their fingerprints and photograph verified by immigration when they come to the United States.
