The number of outbound Chinese tourists reached 71.3 million in the first half of 2018, a year-on-year increase of 15 percent, said a recent report released by the China Tourism Academy (CTA) together with the online travel service provider Ctrip, thepaper.cn reported on Sept 11.

The report said that Chinese tourists departed from over 200 Chinese cities to 130 countries around the world during the six-month period.

Xi’an witnessed the largest growth of outbound tourism among all Chinese cities, reaching 180 percent, according to the report.

The average consumption of China’s outbound travelers from Changchun hit 6,946 yuan (about $1,012) per person, beating all other Chinese cities.

The report also pointed out that Thailand remains the hottest destination for Chinese tourists, followed by Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Russia.

The booming outbound tourism market is attributed to rising willingness of Chinese residents to travel, introduction of visa facilitation and duty-free shopping policies, and many innovative tourism products, Dai Bin, head of CTA, noted.