This study examines the factors influencing Chinese citizens' outbound destination choice to Europe/the USA based on the objective (e.g. demographics and time/money constraints) and subjective measures (e.g. happiness). The study utilizes the nationwide dataset of China Economic Life Survey, which includes more than 100 000 households across 300 counties and 104 cities in China for the analysis. The results reveal that the demographic characteristics (age and education) and constraints (vacation time and money/income) significantly influence Chinese citizens' outbound destination choice. Compared with other outbound destinations, Europe/the USA are more attractive to young, better‐educated people with higher income and more leisure (vacation) time. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.