“Harvard Square plays integral role as it’s very visited by Chinese tourists," Saunders said. "There are fantastic shops and activities to do here.”

According to Jillson, although tourism from China already plays an important role in the local economy, recent changes in the way that U.S. visas are processed helped spur the decision to work with Attract China.

According to the website of the United States Embassy in Beijing, the U.S. established a new streamlined visa process last year. But Jillson said that this is not the only reason that Square businesses are looking to China.

“The number of Asian tourists here in the Square is increasing every year,” Jillson said. “This will be the first time that we’ve done this with a particular website. We haven’t reached out specifically to any other populations.”

For Daniel Berger-Jones, president of Cambridge Historical Tours, Chinese tourism also represents an appealing business opportunity for several reasons.

“The demand is ever increasing, just by nature of the fact that the Chinese market is opening up, [with] more direct flights,” Berger-Jones said. “It’s only going to grow. That’s why everybody is excited that Attract China is looking at Harvard Square.”

Eight tours have been led in Chinese so far by tour guides fluent in Mandarin, according to Berger-Jones. Although most American groups like tours that emphasize personal narratives, Cambridge Historical Tours has tailored their tours to Chinese groups’ specific preferences.

“We came up with a completely different tour that focuses more on superlatives,” Berger-Jones said. “What the groups tend to want is a really nice photo in as many places as humanly possible.”