The city’s economy could benefit to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars from an agreement between Communist China and America that has paved the way for Chinese tourists to come to New York in droves.

Last month, at a meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, Beijing and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding that will allow Chinese travel agencies to market packaged leisure tours to America, and enable American tourist destinations to market directly to the Chinese public.

“Our tourist industry could grow exponentially due to visitors from China,” the president of the consulting firm Airline/Aircraft Projects, Craig Jenks, said. “This could be a big, big deal for the city.”

Only 320,000 Chinese visited America last year, but more than 40 million traveled elsewhere around the globe, a number that is expected to balloon to 100 million by 2020, according to the Department of Commerce.

As the center of finance and capitalism, New York City fascinates China’s booming middle class. In fact, of the Chinese who visited America last year, 145,000, or 44%, came to the city. These visitors spend an average of $6,000 each, more money than international visitors from other markets, according to the city’s tourism office, NYC & Co.

New York’s $25 billion tourism industry, which is expected to attract 50 million visitors by 2015, is becoming a critical sector for the city, and revenues generated by Chinese tourists could become a major factor.

“Tourism could be one of the few growth areas for New York if the city’s economy cools as expected,” the director of the think tank Center for an Urban Future, Jonathan Bowles, said.

While the city is a favored destination among those who have visited America, it is an underdog in the global stampede for Chinese tourists, travel experts say. Chinese citizens have been able to tour European countries such as France, Italy, and Greece for three years, and have had an open visa program with Australia since 1999 and Thailand since 1988.

To fight its way into this competitive marketplace, the Bloomberg administration in June sent a tourist representative to Shanghai to open an office, and Mayor Bloomberg visited China in early December.

“Chinese culture is about relationships,” the divisional dean at the Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management at New York University, Lalia Rach, said. “Your welcome message has to be clearly defined, consistently driven, and delivered personally.”

Chinese tourists may also shun some traditional tourist attractions in New York, such as restaurants, for other activities, such as Broadway shows, the chief executive of the China Business Network, Janet Carmosky, said.

Chinese tour groups see little point in paying top dollar for meals or hotels, which many Chinese tourists consider just places to sleep and wash. When confronted with eye-popping rates of $300 or more, many are perfectly happy booking rooms in New Jersey, Ms. Carmosky said, leaving them more money to buy gifts to bring home.

Regardless, hotel rates could rise precipitously if Asian tourism picks up. Many experts say that more hotels will be needed throughout the city to meet the demand.

“It’s all about the math,” Mr. Jenks said. “You suddenly put in the equation a huge number of tourists to our already limited capacity — what do you think will happen to room rates?”

Few businesses have developed comprehensive plans for targeting this market, but experts say that even the simplest touches can make a difference. Local hotels can follow the example of their European counterparts and offer slippers, tea-making facilities, Chinese meals, and chopsticks, Roy Graff, the managing director of ChinaContact, a firm that advises businesses on the workings of the Chinese tourist market, said. Multilingual services would also help, he said.

There will be time for the city to gear up for this new clientele. The memorandum of understanding goes into effect this spring, and visa and flight restrictions are expected to loosen only gradually over the next few years.