(Yicai Global) Sept. 11 -- Thailand remained the most popular destination among Chinese jetsetters in the first half, after they travelled to more than 130 foreign countries, with younger tourists making up the bulk of the lot.

Chinese tourists from over 200 cities visited more than 1,500 overseas cities during the period, according to report published by travel giant Ctrip's big data lab and the China Tourism Academy. Some 53 percent of the travelers were women, the report said.

Those born in the 1980s made up 31 percent of the tourists, the report added, noting that people born in the 1990s (18 percent) had begun to make up a larger proportion of travelers than those born in the 1970s (16 percent) and become a major force in the outbound tourism market.

Other popular destinations included Russia (ranked eighth), which hosted the 2018 FIFA World Cup for the last two weeks of June, and Turkey (ranked 15th) -- which brought in a host of tourists over the first six months as its lira slipped almost 20 percent against the yuan. Both countries were among the 10 fastest-growing travel destinations for Chinese tourists.

Serbia was the fastest grower of all after becoming the first country in central and eastern Europe to waive visa requirements for Chinese travelers. The number of jetsetters heading to Serbia more than quadrupled on the year, according to the report.

The top 10 destinations by popularity were
1.    Thailand
2.    Japan
3.    Vietnam
4.    South Korea
5.    Singapore
6.    Indonesia
7.    Malaysia
8.    Russia
9.    United States
10.    Cambodia

The top 10 fastest-growing destinations were
1.    Serbia
2.    Laos
3.    Belgium
4.    Vietnam
5.    Sweden
6.    Turkey
7.    Russia
8.    Myanmar
9.    Cambodia
10.    Finland

Editor: James Boynton