More than 98 million Chinese tourists travelled abroad last year, an 18 per cent increase from the previous year, spending a whopping $128.7 billion overseas, up 26.8 per cent on the year before.

More than half of China's outbound tourists are from the post-80s generation, and travelling the world as a family has become more popular in recent years, a China Daily report quoting research report said.

The World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) report aims to provide its member cities and organizations a better understanding of China's outbound tourism market.

The survey was designed and carried out by Ipsos, a France-based market research company, in July.

In terms of destinations, the four most popular were cities in South Korea and Japan - Seoul, Busan, Sapporo and Kwangju.

Among the outbound tourists, 56.21 per cent were born after the 1980s and 59.25 per cent of them were married with young children.

According to the survey, the incomes of China's outbound tourists were relatively high, with an average of 11,512 yuan ($1,872), almost three times the average income of people in major cities in the country.

Traveling abroad with children to enrich their life experience is a new characteristic of China's outbound tourism.

The report said that WTCF's member cities could create family tour routes and family-related products to cater to this growing segment.