Chinese families are booking overseas summer holidays earlier than usual this year as cheaper international airfares, expanding visual-free access and recovering flight capacity make outbound travel more affordable, online travel platform Qunar said on Monday.

Bookings for outbound trips during the upcoming summer holiday in July and August have risen by more than 30 percent year-on-year, with family trips accounting for about 40 percent of all bookings, according to data from the travel platform.

The trend reflects a broader recovery in China's outbound tourism market and growing demand from households seeking cheaper alternatives to domestic peak-season travel.

For departures in mid-July from Beijing, one-way flights to domestic tourist hotspots generally cost more than 1,000 yuan ($139), while flights to Yining, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, exceeded 3,000 yuan.

By comparison, direct flights from Beijing to Seoul in South Korea were priced at around 800 yuan, including taxes, while fares to Bangkok in Thailand and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia were slightly above 1,000 yuan. Direct flights to Tashkent in Uzbekistan were available for less than 1,500 yuan.

Qunar said some short-haul international routes were up to 60 percent cheaper than flights to China's most popular domestic summer destinations.

The trend was particularly evident in smaller cities. International hotel bookings for the summer holiday period from cities, including Luzhou in Sichuan province and Tongling in Anhui province, jumped by more than 50 percent year-on-year, while bookings from Lianyungang in Jiangsu province, Zhanjiang in Guangdong province and Neijiang in Sichuan province rose by more than 20 percent, Qunar said.

The lower prices, together with recovering international flight supply and an expanding visa-free access for Chinese travelers, are helping to attract residents from smaller cities.

Qunar said international hotel bookings for the summer holiday period from Luzhou in Sichuan province and Tongling in Anhui province jumped by more than 50 percent year-on-year. Bookings from Lianyungang in Jiangsu province, Zhanjiang in Guangdong province and Neijiang in Sichuan province rose by more than 20 percent.

Residents from China's third-tier cities and below were also increasingly booking what Qunar described as their "first outbound flight ticket", with bookings rising nearly 20 percent year-on-year.

The platform said many Chinese parents were also combining overseas travel with educational activities for children during the summer break rather than focusing solely on leisure tourism.

Thailand remained the most popular destination for "study camp" summer program that combine sightseeing with English-language, sports and nature-focused program, while searches for museums and art galleries in European and US destinations outpaced interest in theme parks.