More people from smaller Chinese cities are traveling abroad, new research released on Wednesday showed.

Thanks to the country's rapid economic development, residents of second- and third-tier cities have plans and are able to go overseas for their holidays, according to the China Outbound Tourism Development 2013 report, released by the China Tourism Academy.

"Outbound tourism is no longer a privilege of the rich," said academy researcher Jiang Yiyi. "Lower-tier cities have and will continue to contribute substantially to its development."