U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez has said the new memorandum should allow more Chinese visitors to "experience America's hospitality, cultural diversity and natural beauty."

Griffall, who has served on the Board of the Travel Industry of America for the past six years and is past president of the National Tour Association, said the growing incomes in China are creating a huge potential market for tourism.

"If you look at the big picture, the size of the population and the number of people able to travel now because of the money they're making, you can look and it will appear kind of overwhelming," he said. "Not all of them can travel, but the fact is that more can, and more and more will be able to."

Fusheng Wu, associate professor at the Asian Studies Program and director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Utah, believes a lot of affluent and upper-middle-class Chinese want to visit the United States. He has Chinese friends who have traveled to Europe for recreation because of a travel memorandum between China and the European Union.

"I know a lot of people who want to come to the United States just to take a look, because the United States, in a lot of Chinese people's minds, really represents the ultimate achievement of the Western civilization. There's a lot of interest in coming to the United States, and lot of people have the financial resources to do that."

When they come, they probably will spend big. The Travel Industry Association estimates that in 2006, the typical Chinese visitor in the United States spent more than $6,000 on a trip, compared with the typical $1,000 per stay for domestic travelers. Total spending by the 320,000 visitors in 2006 was more than $2 billion, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. That included $1.6 billion on travel products and services and $431 million to U.S. carriers.

Leigh von der Esch, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism, said the office has no firm or current numbers on Chinese visitors, but most their visits have been business-oriented. She said the office will try to ensure that the products being marketed to the Chinese contain lots of information about Utah. "The first thing we want to do is familiarize our product with the Chinese tour operators so we're 'top of mind' within what they're selling," she said.

Griffall said the western United States will be a big part of Chinese tourists' plans.

"I understand that they like Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco," he said. "Those work together to create a lot of opportunity for Utah and for Salt Lake itself as a gateway to the national parks."