Online travel firm Tuniu seeks a cut in outbound travel above rivals

"They've gone past the stage of hustling through famous tourism sites and now they want to slow down and dig a little deeper, maybe one destination at a time. Second-tier cities are quickly catching up and other lower-tier cities are seeing more first-time travel." he said.

Outbound travel products sold online exceeded domestic long-distance travel products as the largest product offerings in China by transaction volume for the first time in 2014. As of the third quarter of 2015, it accounts for 51.4 percent of the transaction value of all travel products sold online, statistics compiled by Analysys show.

Islands in southeast Asia, the United States and Europe are destinations most likely to see strong increases in tourist visits from China going forward, as travelers venture beyond Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and east Asian neighbors Japan and Republic of Korea, Yan said.

Europe could emerge as an equally popular destination for Chinese, "as long as people's concern over safety can be taken care of." Yan said. "Some of the recent incidents in Europe have hurt sentiment among Chinese travelers a little bit."

Wherever they go, Chinese tourists' demands will become more diverse and this, Yan said, will drive companies to compete on two fronts -- providing standardized products to average travellers and offering a buffet of services from which the more sophisticated can customize a trip truly of their own.