On a cold winter morning, dozens of Chinese tourists in a tour group gathered at Circular Quay in Sydney's picturesque harbour before heading out for a shopping spree.

Micky Hu, a tourist from Nanjing in eastern China, planned to buy duty free before she left Australia and she knew what she was looking for.

"Ugg and sneakers or clothes or bags... we can see some discounts and so we will buy it," she told The Business, who followed the group's shopping tour.

Chinese tourists visiting Australia are spending record amounts of money, but some warn Australian retailers risk missing out on the boom.

Shopping in Australia is a favourite past time for many Chinese tourists who seek quality products, with the prevalence of counterfeit goods an ongoing issue back home.

According to Tourism Australia, Chinese visitors collectively shelled out a record $8.9 billion over the year to March, up nearly 40 per cent.

Chinese tourists spent an average of nearly $2,500 last year on retail therapy per trip, according to China consultancy firm, Cross Border Management (CBM).

"There is absolutely no doubt that the Australian tourist industry could be earning more from Chinese tourists than they are today," said CT Johnson the managing director of CBM.

Visitors from China and Hong Kong have overtaken Kiwis as Australia's biggest market, with nearly 1.4 million visitors over the year to May according to the Bureau of Statistics.

Chinese tourists spent an average of nearly $8,000 a visit last year, more than tourists from both the UK and the US, Mr Johnson said.

But, Australian businesses remain in the dark about what Chinese tourists actually want, and according to a report recently released from CBM, Australian retailers could miss key revenue opportunities.

Chinese tourists spent an average of nearly $2,500 on shopping per trip. ( ABC News: Sue Lannin )

"Surveys of Chinese shoppers show they want (language) signs, the company of other Chinese and someone who can help them while they're shopping," the report said.

Mr Johnson reiterated the need for Australian stores to do this, but also offer Union Pay, which is China's most popular credit card.

But, Tourism Australia managing director, John O'Sullivan, disagreed with Mr Johnson's analysis.

"To actually singularly say because every shop in Sydney doesn't have a Mandarin speaker behind the counter all of a sudden this market is going to decline, it's a bit erroneous and quite simplistic," he told The Business.

On the tour, a young lady Ms Hu, travelled from the city of Nanjing in eastern China for a holiday with her mother and said she does want to see more Mandarin speakers in Australian shops.

"My mother needs some people who can speak Chinese," Ms Hu said.

February, July and August, December, peak times for spending

Research from CBM showed Chinese people spent the most during the peak times of Chinese New Year in February, July and August during the Chinese school holidays and at Christmas.

It found Chinese tourists spent $548 million in February this year, the biggest spending month of the year for Australia.

A growing number of Australian companies including hotels and retailers cater to Chinese visitors with Chinese menus, Mandarin speaking staff and Mandarin signs.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb offers a Mandarin climb and a Karaoke Climb and the Sydney Opera House also has Mandarin tours for Chinese visitors.

But Kevin Xu from Chinese Australian travel firm, Grand City Tours, said there is not enough services like cruise ships and hotels to cope with demand from Chinese tourists during peak times.

"The hotels are not enough, especially (during) Chinese New Year and Chinese summer holidays," he said.

Tourism Australia's strategic plan, China 2020, aims to increase spending by Chinese tourists to $13 billion annually by 2020 through a "knowing the customer" campaign.

Mr O'Sullivan said part of that is helping local firms learn about China.

"The tourism industry already does a lot of work in this particular space about getting the industry to be Chinese ready," he said.

"To be welcoming, to make that experience better for the Chinese visitor to increase repeat visitation.

"We recently took 100 businesses up into Chinese market as part of Australia week in China to give them an education about the Chinese trade, the Chinese consumer," he said.