Image credit – iStock-1153172622 India’s travel landscape in 2025 was defined by cultural milestones, digital inspiration, and renewed spiritual engagement, according to The Great Indian Travel Index 2025 released by ixigo, India’s leading AI-driven travel platform. The report analyses travel behaviour across flights, trains, and buses, showing a 45 per cent rise in flight searches, 20 per cent growth in train bookings, and 42 per cent increase in bus travel compared to 2024.
OTT-Inspired Discovery: Northeast Travel Accelerates
Cinematic storytelling reshaped travel trends in 2025. Following the popularity of shows like The Family Man 3 and Paatal Lok 2, the Northeast saw remarkable growth in flight bookings: Dimapur (+77 per cent ), Agartala (+48 per cent ), Guwahati and Imphal (+44 per cent each), and Itanagar (+42 per cent ). The on-screen portrayal of the region’s natural and cultural diversity translated into a real-world tourism boom.Gen Z and the Rise of Spiritual Travel
Gen Z emerged as the key growth segment behind India’s spiritual travel revival, led by the Maha Kumbh. Bus bookings to Prayagraj rose nearly 20x year-on-year, with the highest domestic flight fare on ixigo in 2025 – Mumbai–Prayagraj at ₹92,644 – recorded during the same period.
Flight bookings surged to Varanasi (+134 per cent ), Tirupati (+102 per cent ), and Ayodhya (+54 per cent ), while bus and train travel also climbed sharply to pilgrimage centres such as Rishikesh, Mathura, and Ujjain, underscoring faith as a major national travel driver.
East Asia Leads Global Travel Choices
Internationally, Japan (+63 per cent ) and South Korea (+61 per cent ) topped Indian travellers’ lists, followed by Vietnam (+57 per cent ) and Thailand (+53 per cent ). Offbeat destinations like Oman (+71 per cent ), Kenya (+65 per cent ), and Kazakhstan (+54 per cent ) also gained traction, signalling a growing appetite for culturally rich experiences beyond conventional markets.
Hills, Coasts and Monsoon Revival
Domestic travel remained diverse, led by Dehradun (+64 per cent ), Srinagar (+58 per cent ), Port Blair (+81 per cent ), and Goa (+27 per cent ). Notably, monsoon-season travel grew by 35–40 per cent , turning July–September into a new leisure window for short-haul, nature-led breaks.
Aloke Bajpai, Group CEO, and Rajnish Kumar, Group Co-CEO, ixigo, said: “2025 highlighted how faith, aspiration, and connectivity are reshaping India’s travel map. Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities are driving the next wave of growth, with over 50 per cent of new flight bookers being first-time flyers.”
Published On Dec 27, 2025 at 12:00 PM IST
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