Thousands of Chinese tourists will spend the Christmas holiday period in the United States this year.

New York City, California, and Hawaii are among the more popular destinations as organizations such as United Airlines, Disneyland Park in California, the California Travel and Tourism Commission and the Hawaii Tourism Authority have been begun promoting luxury tours.

The number of Chinese tourists to the US is set to pass the 1 million mark by the end of this year, the National Tourism Administration of China expressed. And the 2 million mark is likely to be passed in 2015, the State agency indicated.

Jiang Yiyi, from the center for recreation and tourism research at Peking University, said outbound tourists are generally well educated, with at least a 5,000-yuan ($750) monthly income, and are aged from 25 to 44."They speak English and use the Internet. These tourists are also willing to try new things," she said.

The World Tourism Organization said China became the fourth-largest outbound consumer in the world last year, with the number of Chinese outbound tourists passing 47 million, 4 percent up year-on-year.

Christopher Heywood, vice-president of travel and tourism public relations of NYC & Company, said the number of Chinese visitors to New York ranked 17th in 2009, but they are among the biggest spenders. Last year, they spent $236 million, or $172 a person a day, in the city, he said.

The building attracts more than 3.5 million visitors a year, with about 200,000 Chinese.