According to the booking.com website, of the 130 million Chinese tourists who traveled overseas last year, 55 to 66 percent of them went independently, and such visitors are looking for "authentic, local experiences that incorporate regional culture, cuisine and activities".

Renee Hartmann, co-founder of China Luxury Advisors, told the global travel industry news website Skift, "Hopping on a tour bus and letting a guide handle all the details is still the norm, as outbound travel remains a novelty for many Chinese travelers.

"They are more likely to go with a group the first time they travel abroad, but on future trips, when they're perhaps more comfortable, that's when we see growth in independent travel," she said.

Hartmann added that Chinese travelers who take independent trips are often in their 20s and 30s, but other age groups are also beginning to make their own travel plans.

While tour groups tend to appeal more to older travelers, many younger Chinese are signing up for them the first time they go abroad.

To date, Cambridge has not reached the stage where residents take to the streets in protest over tourist numbers, as has happened in the Spanish city of Barcelona and Venice, Italy.

Antitourism sentiment in Barcelona reached boiling point, with reports stating that some visitors had eggs thrown at them. Demonstrators held up placards reading, "This isn't tourism, it's an invasion."

Residents were unhappy with tourists renting homes, which protesters said meant rents had become unaffordable for locals.

The backlash against the tourism industry in both Barcelona and Venice prompted officials to crack down on illegal holiday rentals.

According to The Guardian, about 9 million people stayed in hotels in Barcelona last year, and a further 9 million in holiday apartments. The city also received some 12 million day-trippers, who arrived by car, train, or cruise ship. The 30 million visitors who arrived throughout the year swamped the 1.6 million residents.

Venice, which caters to between 70,000 and 90,000 visitors a day, is devising a plan to try to get tourists to stay longer by getting them to visit attractions other than the main ones in the city center.

In Croatia, the impact of tourist numbers in the walled city of Dubrovnik has prompted officials to cap the number of cruise ships that dock each day to two, carrying a maximum of 5,000 passengers between them, according to The Independent newspaper website. The measures will be introduced next year.

In 2016, Dubrovnik welcomed 3.4 million tourists who stayed at least one night, a rise of 13 percent on the previous year. The city's popularity rose after it was used as a location for the TV series Game of Thrones.

China's burgeoning middle class is expected to contribute to a rise in cruise ship tourism.

According to the Cruise Lines International Association, by 2025, the number of Chinese travelers who will have taken cruise trips is expected to grow by between 8 and 10 million.

Alexandra Boulton contributed to this story.