China is the world's fastest-growing tourist-source market, thanks to higher disposable incomes in the world's second-largest economy and looser foreign travel restrictions.

Chinese tourists made 83 million foreign trips in 2012, compared with 10 million in 2000.

Hoteliers, tour companies, restaurants and even taxi drivers will need to brush up on their knowledge of Chinese cuisine, culture and language if they are to tempt them away from favorite destinations such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Maldives, European tourism officials have said.

Other countries in the top 10 posted growth in travel spending, though only Russia came close to China's huge growth, with a 32 percent increase in vacation budgets.