Thursday marks the United Nations World Tourism Day. Chinese tourists are big business in the United States. Nearly three million Chinese nationals visited the United States in 2016, spending some thirty-three billion dollars in the process. And although the likes of New York and Los Angeles remain the key destinations, other areas of the US are trying to get a piece of the action. CGTN's Dan Williams has more.

A cruise through downtown Chicago. A trip on the Chicago Architecture Foundation Center River Cruise is one of the highlights when visiting the Windy City. And, increasingly, Chicago and the U.S. state of Illinois, are attracting more tourists from China. Some 235-thousand Chinese tourists visited the state in 2016, a 41.5 percent increase on the year before. That led to the Illinois Office of Tourism opening four offices in China last year.

CORY JOBE DIRECTOR, ILLINOIS OFFICE OF TOURISM "We realized that if we are going to continue to talk to the consumer, we need to have media presence on the ground. And also be able to educate the tour operators who are selling packages to visitors who are coming to the United States."

Illinois tourism bosses hope to persuade Chinese visitors to venture further afield to other tourist destinations in the state including Route 66 as well as President Abraham Lincoln historical sites. Despite the upward trend, Chicago is still far behind the likes of Los Angeles that had 1.1 million Chinese tourists last year. Operators are becoming increasingly aware that Chinese tourism can mean big business.

LIU JUN ACTING CONSUL GENERAL "The average Chinese tourist in the United States is spending around thirteen thousand U.S. dollars for one person per trip. That is way higher than the average spending of any other foreign tourist."

DAN WILLIAMS CHICAGO "Despite the growth in Chinese tourism to the U.S. midwest in recent years, some of the attractions still struggle to accommodate international visitors. With English often the only language option, many tourists are simply excluded from activities."

Nicholas An is a Chicago-based tour guide. He believes more can be done to help international tourists navigate their way around key sights.

NICHOLAS AN CHICAGO TOUR GUIDE "Many travelers, especially Chinese travelers, their English is not very well. So most of the attractions, they may not understand what the tour guide is saying. So I think if they can prepare more the Chinese material for the tourists, that would be great."

The Art Institute of Chicago is among those to offer a Mandarin language guide. But other midwest attractions lack such options. The Illinois office of Tourism promises further improvement.

CORY JOBE DIRECTOR, ILLINOIS OFFICE OF TOURISM "If we are going to spend all the money, and effort and time in educating the visitor, we want to make sure that everybody is ready. Making sure that sights and attractions are China ready."

Although China tourism in the midwest has grown rapidly, officials remain hopefu. It's just the starting point. Dan Williams, CGTN, Chicago.