Chinese tourism is booming as some 65 million Chinese are expected to travel abroad this year.

And country's across the world are taking note, not just in SA either.

A little glitz and a sampling of a Las Vegas Strip dance and acrobatic performance marked the arrival of the first direct commercial airline flight from mainland China to Las Vegas.

Area elected and tourism officials, a Hainan Airlines executive, and Luo Linquan, the consul general of the People's Republic of China in San Francisco attended a Friday ceremony welcoming the start of service between Las Vegas and Beijing.

Review Journal reports, Hainan Capt Zhao Zhi Long guided the airline’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner into McCarran International Airport nearly an hour ahead of schedule on Friday.

Las Vegas is the eighth gateway city for Hainan in North America and speakers at a welcoming ceremony made several references to eight being a lucky number for the Chinese, the report states.

The three-times-a-week flights through McCarran International Airport on Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft take 13 hours going west and 12 hours going east.

Passenger air service comes as casino companies court Chinese nationals and Chinese-Americans on and off the Las Vegas Strip, with the grand opening of the Lucky Dragon Casino also being hosted on Friday.