India Travel Trends 2026: Pilgrimage Is Driving Domestic Tourism, Government Survey Reveals
India's domestic travel pattern is changing, and new government data shows that religious travel is playing a major role in how Indians travel within the country.
According to the Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey 2025–26 released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), pilgrimage and religious travel accounted for 47.7% of domestic overnight trips during the year ending June 2026.
Religious Travel Leads India's Domestic Tourism
The survey found that nearly half of domestic overnight trips were linked to pilgrimage and religious activities.
The major purposes of domestic overnight travel were:
- Pilgrimage & religious: 47.7%
- Health & medical: 29.6%
- Holidaying, leisure & recreation: 22.1%
- Shopping: 0.6%
Religious travel was the leading purpose in both rural and urban areas. It accounted for 48.4% of overnight trips in rural areas and 46.6% in urban areas.
Rural and Urban Travel Patterns Are Different
The survey also showed differences in travel behaviour between rural and urban households.
Among rural households, health and medical travel had a larger share than holiday and leisure travel. In urban areas, holidaying, leisure and recreation ranked higher after religious travel.
The survey covered 2,46,113 households across India, including 1,42,603 rural and 1,03,510 urban households.
How Much Do Indians Spend on Travel?
The survey also examined travel expenditure.
For overnight trips undertaken during the previous 30 days, business trips recorded the highest average household expenditure at ₹5,949 per trip. For same-day trips, shopping accounted for the highest share of expenditure.
What Does This Mean for Indian Tourism?
The findings show that domestic tourism in India is not driven only by traditional holidays. Pilgrimage, healthcare, business and social visits are all significant reasons for people to travel.
With religious destinations attracting a large share of domestic overnight travel, pilgrimage tourism continues to be an important part of India's overall travel economy.
FAQs
Q. What is the most common reason Indians travel domestically?
According to the 2025–26 government survey, pilgrimage and religious travel was the largest purpose of domestic overnight trips.
Q. What percentage of domestic overnight trips were religious?
47.7% during the year covered by the survey.
Q. Which travel purpose came second?
Health and medical travel, at 29.6%.
Q. Who conducted the survey?
The survey was conducted by the National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation..
Q. When was the survey conducted?
The survey covered July 2025 to June 2026..
The survey was conducted by the National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation..
Q. When was the survey conducted?
The survey covered July 2025 to June 2026..
