The Chinese are on the verge of leapfrogging the Germans and Americans to become the nation whose tourists spend the most money overseas, as the idea of foreign travel captures the imagination of millions of newly affluent citizens in the world's most populous country.

The World Tourism Organisation predicts that the number of overseas trips made by Chinese people will surge from 70m last year to 100m by the end of the decade, from just 5m 15 years ago.

But thanks to the expanding middle class, a surge of Chinese tourists has helped to fill hotel beds and cash tills from South Africa to Italy. The luxury stores of Paris are well-staffed with Mandarin speakers, while hotels in London are learning to offer congee (rice porridge) as well as croissants for breakfast and quilts instead of blankets. Liberty and Harrods started taking China's Union Pay bank card last year.

The popular destinations are becoming more varied. Jiang Yiyi, a researcher at the Chinese tourism academy, says people are increasingly keen to take beach or activity holidays rather than simply traipsing round tourist sites and Chinese tourists do more shopping than others – partly because of the sky-high luxury taxes at home – scenery and culture are bigger draws.

Overall, Asian, Australian and European destinations still top the list; officially, the UK is more popular than France and Germany, though figures are skewed because while Schengen European visas allow people to visit several countries within Europe (but not the UK) on a single visa, they will only be registered at their point of arrival.

But these days, Israel, Tahiti and theMaldives are appearing on itineraries too. CTS has begun chartering flights to the Seychelles for the first time.

Destinations are keen to woo Chinese travellers. While official statistics suggest the average Chinese tourist spends $1,000 a trip. Jiang said that research for the China tourism academy showed that some spend 100,000 yuan (£10,000) on shopping alone. According to Global Blue, a shopping tourism company, 20% of all tax-free shopping is by Chinese customers.

Related News in Chinese:
中国出境游客剧增 海外消费将达世界之最