Graft fight dents overseas spending

"Many believe the anti-corruption drive is at least a contributing factor," he said, adding that the trend could hurt Australian universities.

A key reason for young Chinese studying overseas has been the goal of acquiring permanent residency in the process, which would allow them to bring their mothers over, creating a "naked official" syndrome in China, he noted, referring to officials whose family members are all overseas.

The officials' foreign family connections are used to illegally move assets overseas or avoid probes.

"It is these 'naked officials' who have become obvious targets of Xi's campaign, so keeping one's family close to home is yet another way of avoiding attention," Sainsbury said.

As for sanctioned Chinese government trips, those to the US have fallen by up to 90 percent, according to some industry estimates.

Yang Jun, a director at China Ocean International Travel Service, said that official work trips, if any, now include little time for recreation, which previously made up about half of such trips.

"While personal expenses on shopping and food used to be submitted as claims, these practices have stopped," she added.

In Singapore, business people say that Chinese executives are declining to be wined and dined, with gifts - even items such as mooncakes - being turned down in case these might be misconstrued as bribes.

Another dampener on Chinese spending overseas is the launch of "Operation Fox Hunt," which targets corrupt officials who have fled abroad.

Since the operation's July launch, more than 300 suspects who had fled to 56 countries have been nabbed, said Chinese officials.

With the writing on the wall, firms dependent on Chinese tourists are bracing themselves for tough times ahead.