Now's the time
Japan is attractive to Chinese travelers because of its favorable visa policies and the relative weakness of the Japanese currency yen, experts said.
"The swift shift of Chinese tourists to Japan was aided by Japan's new visa regulations, which made it easier to visit the country," said Lu Lingli, an industry analyst with the Shenzhen-based market research firm Zero Power Intelligence.
The yen's recent weakness against the yuan has also given Chinese tourists more purchasing power in the country, Lu told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Furthermore, Japan also cut tariffs on home appliances, clothing, food, cosmetics and medicine.
On average, each Chinese tourist spent around 285,300 yen ($2,350) in Japan during the second quarter, compared with the average spending of 180,000 yen by tourists from other countries, Japan's official data showed.
"Chinese travelers make a large contribution to Japan's tourism earnings and buy a lot of Japanese products, which to some extent drives the country's economic growth," Lin said.
Several Chinese airlines have launched new routes to Japan this year. Spring Airlines, China's largest low-cost carrier, opened five new routes to the country in March.
In June, the company announced plans for five more direct flights from China to the city of Nagoya in central Japan, in an effort to take advantage of Chinese tourists' growing interest in traveling to the country.
"I'm crazy about shopping in Japan," said a white-collar worker in Beijing surnamed Chen, who took a seven-day trip to Japan in June.
"I bought many big-brand cosmetics and bags there for my friends because of the much cheaper prices there."
Women made up 64 percent of Chinese overseas tourists in the first half of 2015, according to GoldPalm, a Shanghai-based travel consultancy.
They were drawn to neighboring countries such as South Korea and Japan, which are well-known for their high-quality cosmetics and clothes.
Next stop
Although countries like Japan, South Korea and Thailand are the current top choices, Lu believes Chinese people will soon be eying more distant destinations.
"Instead of traveling around China, more Chinese travelers will choose to go farther away, so Europe and North America will become their next preferred choices," Lu said.
As more countries allow Chinese tourists to enter without visas, or offer visas on arrival, the market for overseas travel is expected to grow in China, Lin said.
There are also more ways that Chinese people can travel abroad.
For example, overseas cruises are gaining in popularity in China. About 1.7 million Chinese tourists took a cruise in 2014, an increase of 43 percent year-on-year, Lu said.
"It's a new form of travel that will attract a lot more tourists in the future," Lu noted.
Chinese travelers will also benefit from the yuan's inclusion in the IMF's Special Drawing Rights basket on December 1.
"More and more countries will take the yuan as a common currency, which will allow Chinese travelers to spend the yuan directly while travelling abroad," Lu said.
"That will further simulate the spending by Chinese tourist."
Most Chinese traveling overseas will be from first tier-cities like Beijing and Shanghai due to their strong economies, Lin said. But residents from some second-tier cities will also travel abroad in greater numbers.
