Bahl adds that word of mouth, spread through face-to-face and online interaction, plays a key role in China as in other markets. “That spreads the word without spending trillions on marketing,” he says. “An individual traveler will come back and his excitement about the trip motivates someone else to go. The resources to spread the word have grown dramatically. You have magazines that weren’t here several years ago, and we use online outlets like Qunar and Travelzoo to advertise and get information who is clicking on what.”

The growth of Chinese outbound travel, and movement toward approved destination status for the United States, have led more U.S. travel providers to reach out to the market here, according to Bahl.

“When we met with U.S. hotels recently, they are all geared up to receive more visitors from China. They are getting ready,” he says. “And when Chinese travelers fly to Atlanta, or any of our gateways, they have a Chinese speaker there when they land. With the MOU [Memorandum of Understanding], one condition was there will be a group of U.S. operators that will be approved by CNTA [Chinese National Tourism Administration]. Those will be an asset in taking care of Chinese tourists.”

But there is still room for improvement in serving the Chinese traveler. “Ground transport, facilities for certain food habits, etc—those are lacking, especially in secondary cities,” Bahl adds. &ld

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