A Chinese tourist takes a selfie in front of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in May.[Photo/Agencies]

Mainlanders prefer regional destinations

When choosing overseas tourism destinations, Chinese travelers prefer neighboring countries and regions, according to the annual Report of Outbound Tourism Development by the China Tourism Academy, a think tank under the national tourism administration.

Hong Kong and Macao accepted more than 63 percent of the 117 million total outbound tourists from the mainland in 2015. Despite the fact that total visits to Hong Kong in 2015 dropped by 4.3 percent, to 45.8 million, it still ranks at the top for mainland visitors.

Other popular tourism destinations include Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, the United States, Singapore, Russia, Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Several countries and regions saw huge growth - Thailand was up 88 percent (7.93 million visitors), Japan was up 82 percent (4.99 million visitors) and Vietnam was up 68 percent (1.78 million visitors).

However, visits to Africa dropped by 61.8 percent in 2015, while visits to Europe increased by 23.8 percent, the report said.

Most money spent on shopping

When asking to rank their largest expenditures on overseas trips, 85.9 percent of tourists answered shopping.

About 61 percent chose fees paid to travel agencies and local organizers. More than 58 percent chose dining.

Chinese people are not shy about spending big during overseas trips. More than 60 percent of tourists said their budget for one trip was more than 10,000 yuan ($1,500), the outbound tourist report said.

More than 30 percent said they would spend 5,000 to 10,000 yuan for one trip. Only 8 percent said their budget was below 5,000 yuan.

Eastern China provides most tourists

Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong province, Jiangsu province and Zhejiang province were the top five source markets for China's booming outbound tourism industry. In 2015, Beijing sent out 5.3 million citizens to travel overseas, a year-on-year jump of 29.7 percent. Average overseas spending was 5,000 to 15,000 yuan, the report said.

Eastern China has a mature tourism industry, and it takes the lead both in accepting tourists and sending them out. Central China also makes a big contribution, the report said. The gaps between western, central and eastern China are being narrowed as airports are built and visa centers are opened in second - and third-tier cities, it said.