More than a thousand Chinese tourists toured New York City during the Chinese Spring Festival spending US$6,000 (S$8450) per capita, China Business News reported today.

The visiting group, organized by the New York City travel bureau, Continental Airlines and travel agencies, brought a total of $6 million revenue to the slack US east coast.

The Macy's New York flag store held two traditional Chinese lion dance performances on February 15 and the Empire State Building temporarily closed from 8pm to 10 pm the next day to give the group a special treat, the report said.

The biggest ever Chinese tourist group benefited from a tour destination protocol reached by the US Department of Commerce and China National Tourism Administration in December, 2007, which relaxed visa restrictions on Chinese tourists from the spring of 2008.