How India Travelled in 2025: Spiritual Journeys, Concert Tourism and Tier-2 Cities Redefine Mobility
India’s travel behaviour in 2025 reflected a decisive shift towards spiritual journeys, festival-driven homecomings, entertainment-led short trips, and rising participation from Tier-2 cities, signalling a broader and more decentralised travel ecosystem than in previous years.
Spiritual travel dominates the year
Spiritual tourism emerged as the strongest growth engine in 2025, led overwhelmingly by the Maha Kumbh Mela. Travel bookings to Prayagraj surged more than threefold during January and February, making it the single most influential travel event of the year.
This acceleration significantly outpaced the steady momentum seen in 2024, when pilgrimage destinations such as Ayodhya, Shirdi and Varanasi recorded around 50% year-on-year growth. In 2025, interest deepened further, with searches for Ayodhya, Varanasi and Tirupati rising by 34%, cementing faith-based travel as a mainstream and recurring travel category rather than a seasonal phenomenon.
Festivals continue to trigger mass movement
India’s cultural calendar once again played a defining role in shaping travel patterns. Chhath Puja emerged as one of the largest annual migration events, with flight bookings to Patna increasing by 25% during the festival period.
This followed a similar pattern observed in 2024, when bus and train bookings spiked sharply around Chhath and Holi, underscoring how festivals continue to drive predictable yet large-scale travel flows across modes of transport.
Rise of spontaneous and income-linked travel
Travel in 2025 also became noticeably more impulsive. Data showed that bookings jumped by 15% immediately after salary credits, highlighting a strong correlation between disposable income cycles and travel decisions. This trend points to growing financial confidence and increased willingness to convert short-term liquidity into travel experiences.
Concerts and live events fuel short trips
Entertainment tourism gained fresh momentum during the year. Concert-led travel emerged as a major trigger for short-duration trips, particularly among younger travellers. Cities such as Mumbai and Bengaluru recorded higher inbound travel volumes around major live events.
This trend built on 2024 data, when concert-related travel had grown by over 40%, and strengthened further in 2025 as live entertainment increasingly influenced destination choices.
Leisure destinations show resilience
Traditional leisure destinations remained strong despite shifting travel preferences. Srinagar recorded its highest-ever bookings, marking a notable comeback year. Goa continued to hold its position as India’s most popular holiday destination, attracting more travellers than in 2024 and maintaining consistent demand throughout the year.
Tier-2 cities move to centre stage
One of the most significant structural shifts in 2025 was the expansion of travel beyond major metropolitan centres. Tier-2 cities including Indore, Lucknow, Patna, Surat and Kochi saw a meaningful rise in inbound travel.
This trend reflects deeper digital adoption, improved connectivity, and rising aspirations across regional India, signalling a more geographically balanced travel economy.
A broader travel transformation
Overall, 2025 marked a year when India’s travel growth became broader, more decentralised, and more experience-driven. The dominance of spiritual journeys, the scale of festival travel, the rise of event-led mobility, and growing participation from smaller cities together point to a structural evolution in how Indians travel.
Source: Travel Recap 2025 data published by One97 Communications Ltd. (Paytm)