New research from Hotels.com shows that Thailand ranked second in 2015 on a list of the most popular countries among Chinese travellers.
The country was behind the US, the top destination for mainland Chinese travellers going overseas last year -- and unchanged from 2014 -- according to the fifth annual Chinese International Travel Monitor released by the leading online accommodation booking website.
Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, South Korea, France, Italy and the UK rounded out the top 10 in that order.
The rankings were primarily based on the number of rooms booked on the Chinese version of Hotel.com.
In terms of cities, Hong Kong, followed by Bangkok, remained the top two in the global ranking for Chinese travellers' going overseas in 2014 and 2015.
Tokyo jumped from the ninth to the fourth most visited city from 2014 to 2015, while Chiang Mai broke into the top 10 last year.
When it comes to looking at how countries are ranked in terms of attractions, Australia topped the list as a sightseeing destination, beating Japan and Hong Kong, while Thailand was number six on the list.
The countries seen by Chinese travellers as the most welcoming were Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Australia and Thailand.
Meanwhile, Thailand ranked sixth for the top 10 destinations Chinese travellers said they would like visit in the next 12 months, with Australia topping that list.
The research also revealed that 92% of Chinese travellers plan to increase or maintain their spending and one-third of them plan to spend more on travel in the coming year despite the slowing economy.
The survey used Ipsos, a world leader in market research, which in May 2016 surveyed 3,000 Chinese travellers. Complementing this data with the opinions of hoteliers, Hotels.com carried out a global survey of 5,800 accommodation partners.
China continues to be the top global spender in terms of tourism expenditures. With only 5% of China's 1.4 billion citizens holding passports, the growth potential for the market is enormous.