New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has launched an effort to draw 50 million annual visitors to the city by 2015. Leading the way is NYC & Company, the city's official marketing and tourism organization. The company opened its first representative office in China on June 27, and George Fertitta, its Chief Executive, went to Shanghai to promote New York's tourist offerings.

"As financial, commercial and media centers, New York City and Shanghai have many common interests," Fertitta said in a prepared statement. "And as professionals in those and other industries continue to travel to New York for business, they will find a dynamic, thriving city-all the more reason to extend their trip and discover all the exciting things to see and do."

Fertitta told the Associated Press that NYC & Company would hire local representatives to work with travel agencies in Shanghai to avoid the Chinese Government's restriction on foreign tourism advertising. Countries to which the government does not give an "approved destination status" are banned from direct tourism advertising to Chinese consumers. This includes the United States.

NYC & Company also opened offices in Tokyo on June 26 and in Seoul on July 2, as part of its plan to build a global network of representative offices.

About 150,000 visitors from China's mainland and Hong Kong came to New York City in 2006, according to NYC & Company. This year, that number is expected to reach 165,000.

In 2006, more than 80 percent of Chinese travelers visited New York City for business-related purposes. Many of them added leisure activities to their trip and brought along their families, said Makiko Matsuda Healy, head of NYC & Company's Asia Pacific Tourism Development. These are the travelers that the company will try to reach through its Shanghai office, she added.

By targeting business travelers, NYC & Company can market add-on activities and packages so it can comply with the Chinese Government's restrictions on tourism advertising. Travelers from China with work visas that include allowances to bring family members generally stay 10 to 15 days in multiple cities, according to the company.

New York City stands to gain huge monetary benefits in attracting more well-off Chinese tourists, about 9 percent of whom have annual income of above $200,000. Twenty percent of Chinese tourists purchase pricey tour packages with the average visitor spending $5,800 on a trip to the United States - more than any other tourist group except Indian visitors - according to U.S. Commerce Department figures cited by the Associated Press.

Tour companies that offer Chinese-speaking guide services in New York City say business is booming.

"We are seeing an increase in the number of groups coming in," said Samuel Chong, Managing Director of Best Service Chinese Travel Agency in New York and Los Angeles." The agency has offices in several North American cities and offers tour packages starting at $600 a day. Packages include admission tickets, airport pickup and transportation, refreshments and bilingual Chinese tour guide services.

The activities are similar to those provided to other tourist groups, Chong said. "They want to see New York and Los Angeles. Everybody wants to see those two cities," he added.

Like NYC & Company, the travel agency promotes its services as add-on packages for business travelers in order to comply with the Chinese Government's restrictions on direct advertising.