Indian travellers are moving from episodic to continuous travel.<\/a><\/p>\n Flight bookings grew fivefold, stays increased eight to nine times, and card spending occurred across 113 currencies in 174 countries, reflecting a global travel footprint.
Anil Goteti, Founder and CEO, Scapia, said, \u201cTravel has become a continuous mindset. People are weaving multiple, shorter trips into their year, anchored around experiences that matter to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cleartrip\u2019s Long Weekend Tracker, which integrates all 2026 long weekends into Google Calendar, encourages travellers to plan trips early.<\/p>\n
Govind Bansal, Head of Marketing, Cleartrip, noted, \u201cBy embedding planning into everyday routines, we aim to keep travel top of mind throughout the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Travel expands beyond metros and traditional destinations<\/strong><\/p>\nDomestic travel is reaching offbeat locations such as Ziro (Arunachal Pradesh), Pakyong (Sikkim), Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh), and Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh). Internationally, destinations like Barbados, Luang Prabang, and Tashkent are gaining traction.<\/p>\n
Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are driving growth, with international flight bookings by women tripling in 2025.<\/p>\n
Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia are emerging as preferred international circuits. Bali, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Almaty recorded strong year-on-year growth in bookings.<\/p>\n
Rajnish Kumar, Group Co-CEO, ixigo, said, \u201cImproved connectivity, new experiences, and favourable climates are making these regions increasingly attractive for Indian travellers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Digital payments, rewards, and forex enable flexible travel<\/strong><\/p>\nRewards points and digital payments are supporting travel spending.<\/p>\n
On Scapia, nearly 50% of train bookings and 60% of bus bookings were funded entirely through reward redemptions.<\/p>\n
BookMyForex reported significant growth in currency-specific purchases, led by the Vietnamese Dong and Japanese Yen, which rose 139% and 118% year-on-year, respectively.<\/p>\n
Gagan Malhotra, COO, BookMyForex, observed, \u201cTravellers are moving from blanket forex purchases to destination-specific currencies and reload-led usage, reflecting more intentional planning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dhruv Verma, Founder and CEO of Thriwe, said 2025 marked a shift from traditional, points-led loyalty programmes to more lifestyle-driven travel ecosystems.<\/p>\n
According to him, travellers are prioritising what he described as \u201cidentity travel\u201d, where journeys align closely with personal interests and life stages.<\/p>\n
Verma noted that millennials are showing interest in spiritual retreats and boutique stays, while Gen Z is driving demand for event-led travel, including trips centred around major concerts and cultural gatherings.<\/p>\n
Experience and personalisation drive travel choices<\/strong><\/p>\nIndian travellers are moving away from fixed packages. Pickyourtrail data shows that customised itineraries, including date changes, route adjustments, and personal activity selections, are becoming standard.<\/p>\n
Hari Ganapathy, Co-founder and CEO, Pickyourtrail, said, \u201cTravellers are investing in experiences that matter, prioritising activities and moments over traditional sightseeing or luxury markers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ebix Travel \u2013 Delphi World Money also notes a rise in bookings for cultural, adventure, and immersive activities, with searches for in-destination experiences up 24% year-on-year.<\/p>\n
Rajesh Magow, Co-founder and Group CEO, MakeMyTrip, added, \u201cShort-haul international travel continues to gain momentum, supported by easier visa access and emerging destinations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Short breaks and multi-modal travel gain traction<\/strong><\/p>\nData shows that shorter trips are replacing long holidays, with travellers combining flights, trains, and buses to create multi-modal journeys. Scapia projects that 48\u201372 hour trips will become mainstream, with destinations selected for convenience and repeatability. Activities such as scuba diving, adventure trails, and cultural experiences are increasingly influencing spending decisions.<\/p>\n
Vinod Bondi, Regional Manager, PADI, observed, \u201cTravel is being valued as an investment in meaningful experiences, not just leisure.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Indian travellers are reshaping how they plan, spend, and experience holidays. Data from travel platforms shows a shift away from long, annual vacations toward shorter, more frequent trips that prioritise personal experiences and flexible planning. Frequent travel becomes the norm Scapia\u2019s 2025 insights indicate that Indian travellers are moving from episodic to continuous travel. Flight…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}