Phuket, Bangkok and Chiang Mai are listed in the 20 most popular destinations for Chinese travellers according to a poll by daodao.com, a brand operated by leading global travel site, TripAdvisor.
Phuket beach is one of the attractions drawing both local and foreign visitors to the city. (EPA photo)
The survey was carried out in July and August.
Hong Kong was the top destination, followed by Phuket and Taiwan. Bangkok ranked the fourth and Chiang Mai twelfth as the most popular destinations. Only Thailand had three cities listed in this survey.
Lily Cheng, managing director of TripAdvisor China, said that in 2012 China surpassed the US and Germany as the world's largest source of outbound tourism by expenditure.
According to the China Tourism Academy, the Chinese outbound travel market is estimated to reach 94 million trips in 2013, up 15% year-on-year. These travellers are estimated to spend US$117.6 billion, or 3.6 trillion baht on their trips, up 20% year on year.
Hong Kong and Macau continue to draw tens of millions of mainland China tourists a year given their unique roles as duty-free shopping havens. The travel site noticed a shift in the market and mainland travellers have started to look further afield to destinations like Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea and beyond, as supported by easy transport links, family-friendly attractions and onward air routes to other international destinations.
In July and August 2013, millions of unique visitors came to daodao.com to research outbound destinations, representing an increase of over 250% compared to the same time last year.
Based on unique visitors recorded in July and August 2013 on daodao.com, the Top 20 most popular destinations are as follows (comparing year-on-year growth for July and August 2012 versus July and August 2013):
1.Hong Kong, China (50%)
2.Phuket, Thailand (250%)
3.Taiwan (350%)
4.Bangkok, Thailand (270%)
5.Paris, France (360%)
6.Dubai, UAE (210%)
7.Macau, China (50%)
8.Seoul, South Korea (180%)
9.Singapore (170%)
10.Bali, Indonesia (310%)
11.Rome, Italy (180%)
12.Chiang Mai, Thailand (180%)
13.New York, United States (280%)
14.London, United Kingdom (120%)
15.Jeju Island, South Korea (570%)
16.Boracay, Philippines (360%)
17.Kyoto, Japan (580%)
18.Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia (550%)
19.Hanoi, Vietnam (510%)
20.Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (190%)